All I Want Is You
by Valkyrie85
Summary: "It's a win-win situation. I help your friend and you help me There'll be no harm done, especially since you don't like me. There's not much you have to do in this act. The most is go on dates and have the paparazzi write about us," Syaoran said to Sakura
1. Chapter 1

**Valkyrie85:** Hello! Thanks for giving my story a try. I really put a lot of effort into this story and I hope you will enjoy it! For those who have read my other story "Complications," I would like to apologize for not uploading for such a long time. I've put it on hiatus for now. Gomen!

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Welcome back to Ichicho!" said the 50 year-old queen of talk shows' Ichicho Aya to her sea of standing audience. The audience excitedly clapped and then took their seats for the show to resume from the commercial break.

"So just a little recap, before the show we asked Syaoran about how he handles all the crazy fans while staying on top of the world in his career. He told us, unsurprisingly, that it's quite simple, FOR HIM," Aya said and smiled, while her audience giggled at her emphasis.

"As a huge fan of his, just like the rest of you sitting here and the ones hogging the TV at home right now, I can clearly remember the day when he first debuted as a runway model and the day when he first announced, two years ago, that he was going to be a part of the film industry." Aya continued as the cameras circulated around the studio.

"No matter what he had in mind, he took the world by storm. His films received numerous awards, and his acting was recognized internationally as he took home the Best Male Actor of the Year award, for the past 2 years. In addition to these achievements, he has also held the number one spot on the Asia's 100 Most Beautiful chart for 4 years in a row. With an overwhelming record like that, handling his ballistic fans must be somewhat easier!" The audience erupted into cheers.

She waited for the crowd to calm down before she continued, "Now Syaoran, my next question is: What do you think of your nickname given to you by your fans? That is, the nickname 'playboy?'"

Sitting across from her comfortably was Li Syaoran, a handsome man with amber eyes and messy chocolate-coloured hair. He smiled genuinely and shook his head. "Honestly, Aya, I don't quite know myself. They call me a playboy and somehow I half agree and half disagree with them. I mean, I agree because I may not be too committed sometimes in my relationships due to my work load, so I tend to just give up on those who can't be considerate for me. But I don't agree because you know how it is here, the tabloid makes up 70% of the things they report on in magazines. The things they call me a playboy for are very untrue, though I am a playboy in some way..."

Aya nodded and asked, "Out of the numerous reports, how many were actually true?"

Syaoran paused for a second to think about it before he answered, "Six or seven?"

"You mean six or seven girlfriends, excluding hook-ups?" Aya's eyes widened.

"Yeah." Then he asked uncertainly, "Is this too much?"

Aya nodded. "That is quite many. Out of all your long and short relationships, which one you felt like it was different and special?"

Syaoran made the signature move he used when he felt stuck. He laced his fingers through his hair and pushed it backwards. To his fans, this was a haven to watch. It was so sexy.

"Well, there was this girl who I had a huge crush on in high school when I was still in New York."

"And how was it different?"

"The girl was just different. Her smile was beautiful. She was very friendly, even though we weren't friends. Actually, we never actually had a proper conversation."

"And have you seen that girl every since you moved to Japan?"

Syaoran shook his head. He grabbed the coffee mug in front of him and took a sip.

"Alright then, the show will resume shortly after the break. Stay tuned!" Aya said and the audience got up to cheer once again.

…

* * *

"Was it Sakura?"

"Hm…?"

"The 'high school crush,' was it Kinomoto Sakura?" a navy blue-haired and gray-eyed man, called Hiiragizawa Eriol, questioned Syaoran. He waited for his friend's reply while he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Sitting across from him, Syaoran nodded without looking up from the knife and fork at work.

Eriol sighed. "I thought you gave up on searching for her? Why did you mention her again?" He pushed up his glasses and leaned closer to Syaoran.

This time, Syaoran looked up at his former-manager-then-got-promoted-to-become-an- executive at his company, as he chewed his food slowly.

"I did give up but you saw the interview too, didn't you? Aya asked me first."

"She did, but you don't have to answer everything truthfully. You should know that by now, Syaoran. A big celebrity like you who has been working in this industry for so long should know that the work is full of lies," Eriol retorted.

"Which is exactly why I said that. Because this industry is full of lies, it needs some truth. So I told one. Big deal," Syaoran said nonchalantly and took a sip of his wine. He spoke in his smart-ass tone which Eriol hated the most.

Eriol looked at him sceptically but didn't say anything. Somehow, he thought that maybe Syaoran still hadn't completely forgotten about Sakura, but Syaoran wasn't going to admit it. Or maybe, he didn't realize that himself.

"Come to the company tomorrow. We'll have to discuss your new project," Eriol said a few minutes after both men ate in silence.

Syaoran looked up and pouted. "Another one? But I just finished filming the other one!"

"Do you know why you have to do it?" Eriol asked as he took out his phone and tapped on it a few times before handing it over to Syaoran. "Read it."

Syaoran took the phone and read what it said:

_"Syaoran's acting is flawless!"_

_"He can fight so well!"_

Typical comments. Syaoran didn't know why Eriol told him to read something that he already knew without reading. Eriol knew what Syaoran was thinking. Before Syaoran said anything, he said, "Keep on reading."

So he did. He scrolled down the forum until he passed something that caught his eyes. He moved the scroll bar up a little.

_"Syaoran's acting is great, however only physical wise. I couldn't feel anything from him when he was about to kill himself in 'Star Tears'."_

Then, he read another that replied to the previous comment.

_"I agree. His playboy attitude must have something to do with it. I couldn't feel anything either in that scene. It's like he killed himself just for the purpose of dying. He was actually supposed to kill himself because his loved one died and he wanted to join her in the other world."_

Another said, _"HE'S A PLAYBOY! THAT'S WHY HE CAN'T CONVEY THESE DEEP EMOTIONS!"_

"You see now? You see why we have to get you to film movies one after another?" Eriol asked.

Syaoran looked at him but didn't say anything.

"Your acting may be great, but if people look deeper into it, all they see is emptiness. There's absolutely no…emotions beneath your physical features. Even though you do have expressions physically, deep inside is all empty. Do you get what I mean?"

Syaoran shook his head.

"It's like when I smile," Eriol said and demonstrated a smile, "I may have a smile on my face but inside, I'm not really smiling because I'm not happy. Now though," he demonstrated another smile, "I am actually smiling because I'm happy. You can even tell through my eyes."

Syaoran nodded slowly, trying to comprehend.

"But why should we worry about these comments? There are ones like these all the time!" Syaoran asked.

"That's right but this problem is actually very serious. As you act in more films, people will start to notice this problem more often. This problem is what differentiates an idol actor with only a pretty face but no talents from a true actor with great talents. We have noticed this problem a long time ago. So, what we want to do now is to help you improve, by giving you more practices."

Syaoran nodded in agreement, no longer wanted to protest.

_

* * *

_

Passengers boarding the 201 flight, flying to New Jersey, please enter from gate 89…

A 5 foot 7 woman, in a simple t-shirt, track pants, and a pair of running shoes walked among the other travellers in the airport. Her height, pretty tall for a Japanese woman, made her stand out, especially with a pretty face like hers that didn't scream "BITCH." Back in the states, she was pretty popular in her own league. She wasn't the most out-going type nor was she the super quiet type. She was in-between, which made her very likable.

Another reason that she stood out among the people in the airport was because of her short bob-cut auburn hair and beautiful emerald eyes. Typically in Japan, people had mostly black hair and black eyes.

"Sakura!" an old woman called the woman, now known as Sakura. When Sakura turned, the old woman waved. Her eyes were emerald, just like Sakura's. Her hair, due to age, was gray. Other than the difference in the hair colour and the height, the old woman was basically a replica of Sakura.

"Grandma!" Sakura exclaimed as she nearly ran towards the woman who was standing not far away with two other people. One was Sakura's grandpa, Miyazaki Yamamoto, and the other one was Sakura's best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo.

When Sakura approached the threesome, she was immediately pulled into a tight embrace by her grandma, Miyazaki Misaki.

"It's so good to see you again, my dear. I've been waiting for you to arrive for a very long time!"

Sakura wanted to reply, but due to the embrace she couldn't. Then, a big hand gently placed on Misaki's shoulder.

"Misaki, shall we get her inside the car first? She's been on a long flight," Yamamoto convinced his wife. When Misaki unwillingly took her arms away from Sakura, Yamamoto winked at Sakura, who returned a smile.

"Alright," Misaki said and pouted, "you're right. Let's get Misaki into the car first."

The four of them headed out the double doors of the airport and got into a limo that waited for them.

* * *

"You don't remember this place, do you?" Misaki asked after they arrived at her and Yamamoto's Yokohama home. It was the traditional kind of Japanese house, with wooden walls and floors. It was roomy with tatami mats beside every table there was. The house was traditional but all the facilities were very modern. For example, they had a flat-screen TV in the living room. Everything about the house was so new to Sakura.

Sakura shook her head as her eyes wandered around the room they were currently sitting in.

"It's okay, child. Memories are the past. What's important is now. We can build happy memories together," Yamamoto said. Misaki immediately nodded her head.

This was the first time Sakura visited Japan. She lost all her memory due to a car accident 7 years ago, in New York. Her mom, Miyazaki Nadeshiko died in the crash. After the accident, Tomoyo, her grandparents, and Tomoyo's mom Daidouji Sonomi all went to New York to see Sakura and attend Nadeshiko's funeral. That was the time when Sakura, as a new person after she lost her memory, first met those who loved her. Even though their visit was short, she got very close to them.

"It's too bad that you have to go back to Tokyo with Tomoyo today. Why can't you stay here with us? Go work at a Yokohama hospital instead!" Misaki whined like a child. Sometimes, she was more of a child than anyone else.

Sakura smiled apologetically and shook her head. "I'm sorry, grandma. I don't get to choose where I work. My professors back in New York do."

After Sakura and Tomoyo had dinner with Misaki and Yamamoto, they said bye to them and got into the limo to go back to Tokyo.

* * *

"Sakura?" Tomoyo peeked inside the room.

"Yeah?" Sakura got up from her bed and walked towards Tomoyo. "Come in!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her into her room.

Tomoyo smiled and sat on Sakura's bed. "How do you like this room? Is it big enough for you?"

Sakura nodded. "Of course! It's just like the room I have back in New York!"

She looked around the room and saw beautiful paintings of landscapes in Europe, which Sakura adored a lot. There was also an area where couches were placed around a coffee table. There also was a plasma screen TV attached to the wall.

"I'm glad." Tomoyo smiled. Sakura loved Tomoyo so much. From what she heard, they were childhood best friends and grew up together, just like their mothers. After Tomoyo visited Sakura in New York, she and Tomoyo became very good friends. In addition, they constantly chatted on msn even after Tomoyo returned to Japan. Sakura knew for sure that after her memory lost, the closest person she met was Tomoyo.

"I heard from Aunt Sonomi that you opened your own fashion company. How is it going?"

Tomoyo shrugged. "It's alright. I've already designed all the clothes and now I need models."

Tomoyo suddenly grinned at Sakura. "Me?" Sakura pointed at herself and Tomoyo nodded.

"I want you to be my female spokesperson. In a few days, I will have a dinner meeting with Li Syaoran to ask him to be my male model," Tomoyo explained.

"Who is Li Syaoran?"

Tomoyo's grin widened. "You'll see."

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **There you go! The first chapter was just some basic introduction to the characters in the story. I promise you that the story will get better! Thanks for reading and please review! Also, the next chapter will come out next Friday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Valkyrie85: **Hello! I didn't want you guys to wait until Friday to read this boring chapter and then find it disappointing and worthless of your time, so I decided to upload this one now and then the third chapter next Friday. From that point on, I will remain to a weekly schedule. ENJOY!

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Even though it was only the beginning of June and Sakura's training sessions didn't start until the beginning of July, she immediately made plans to tour around Tokyo General Hospital after she settled down in Japan.

Today, she left Tomoyo's mansion early in the morning and then took the bus to Tokyo General Hospital, which consisted of a group of very tall buildings located 30 minutes away from where she lived.

After she arrived there, she strolled around the campus to get acquainted to it so that on the first day of her training, she wasn't going to mess up. During her tour around, she even took some important notes about the hospital and how a normal day at the hospital would function. Sakura knew her performance during the training sessions was going to affect her future; therefore, she was going to treat it even more seriously than she usually did with her work.

* * *

Syaoran just finished filming two scenes for his new movie, "Down in Heaven." He was on lunch break and decided to spend some quiet time in his own dressing room to memorize the script.

Being the arrogant, selfish, immature smart-ass wanabe that he was, he was actually very serious about his career. He transformed into a completely different person when he worked.

Syaoran expected himself to be perfect in his job. It wasn't enough to do everything just to the best of his abilities. He had to be perfect, which was why when the old conversation with Eriol replayed inside his head, he immediately stopped memorizing in order to find a solution.

"_Your acting may be great, but if people look deeper into it, all they see is emptiness. There's absolutely no…emotions beneath your physical features. Even though you do have expressions physically, deep inside is all empty. Do you get what I mean?" _

_Syaoran shook his head. _

"_It's like when I smile," Eriol said and demonstrated a smile, "I may have a smile on my face but inside, I'm not really smiling because I'm not happy. Now though," he demonstrated another smile, "I am actually smiling because I'm happy. You can even tell through my eyes."_

_Syaoran nodded slowly, trying to comprehend. _

"_But why should we worry about these comments? There are ones like these all the time!" Syaoran asked. _

"_That's right but this problem is actually very serious. As you act in more films, people will start to notice this problem more often. This problem is what differentiates an idol actor with only a pretty face but no talents from a true actor with great talents. We have noticed this problem a long time ago. So, what we want to do now is to help you improve, by giving you more practices."_

No matter how hard he tried to 'convey' those deep emotions during filming today, the director said he couldn't feel any from him.

He wanted to improve because he knew that if he didn't, the problem would be discussed more often by his fans until they were going to stop supporting him.

Then, it would be the end of his career. His parents would go back to looking down on him, just like when Syaoran first entered the industry with no money or fame.

He didn't want to lose his acting career and go back to his parents' company…That just wasn't his goal in life.

As Syaoran occupied himself in deep thoughts, someone pushed the dressing room door open and entered. It was a petite 35-year-old woman, called Fukuoka Hikari. She was a fierce single-mother with a five-year-old daughter and was hired by Eriol to manage Syaoran's showbiz when he got promoted to become an executive.

She was, at the time, working numerous part-time jobs to support her child. Now, with only one job she earned enough for both her daughter and she to live in a nice rented home and have an average life.

Hikari was extremely thankful of Eriol, so she promised to help him keep Syaoran on track while Eriol worked on other things at the company. She took care of Syaoran's businesses, while Eriol was actually the one who made all the big decisions.

"Daidouji Inc. called to ask you if you could have dinner with the CEO. Apparently, she's got some matter to discuss with you," Hikari said as she walked towards Syaoran.

Syaoran frowned. He didn't like to be bothered when he was memorizing his script, but Hikari always come at this time, even though she knew that as well. Because Hikari was like a sister to Syaoran and he knew that most of the things she did or said were for a good purpose, he couldn't get mad at her.

"I've never even heard of the company, Hikari." Looked like this was one of the rare unimportant businesses that she messed up on.

"Are you sure? Sure it doesn't click in your head…? D-A-I-D-O-U-J-I?" Hikari asked as if she was expecting something.

_Daidouji. Daidouji. _Then it clicked. Daidouji was the last name of a woman who was a great business partner with his parents.

"Aw shit," he said.

"If you find it so troublesome, then don't do it. It's up to you," Hikari told him. A smile appeared on her face.

Syaoran's frown deepened. "Do you think I want that old man waiting at my doorstep tonight? I'm not about to have him come down from Hong Kong to make my life like hell!"

Hikari enjoyed these moments when felt threatened. She knew about the situation between Syaoran and his parents in Hong Kong.

He had ditched his parents' company and came to Japan to begin his career in the entertainment industry 4 years ago, much against his parents' will. They kept on bothering him at first but then slightly loosened up due to their busy business.

"Alright, then the dinner meeting will be at 'Thousand Island' in three days, at 6:00 p.m. Don't be late, or else he might actually come down!" Hikari teased and then left the room.

"Shit!"

* * *

Sakura hopped on a bus that went straight to the restaurant where she was going to have dinner with Aunt Sonomi and Tomoyo. She spotted a seat near the back of the bus and then sat down. As she did so, she felt the muscles in her leg loosen up from all the walking she did at the hospital, today.

Then, she took out a magazine from her bag and started reading it. The cover page had a very good-looking man, probably in his mid-20s, posing. He had messy chocolate-coloured hair and shiny amber eyes covered by thick layers of lashes. He had a beautiful, perfect tall nose and lips that weren't too thin or too thick. His high-cheek-boned face overall was so perfect, he looked like a God. Sakura stared at the cover for lengthy amount of time.

"He's so perfect. It's probably all photoshoped," she said softly to herself but her eyes remained still on the page.

"You don't come here often do you, miss?" a woman beside her asked. Sakura shook her head.

"Well, Li Syaoran is all natural. If you see him on TV or in person, you will know what I mean. There were some articles that said he's actually one of the few male stars who don't usually have a lot of makeup on." She looked dreamily at Syaoran's picture as she spoke.

_Li Syaoran…It was the star that Tomoyo wanted to have as her male model!_ Sakura thought.

"Oh really?" Sakura asked, exaggerating her surprise. The woman smiled and went back to fixing her makeup. Sakura was amazed at how such a young star like he would have fans of her age. Wasn't he just an idol with a pretty face and no talents? Apparently, he wasn't because typical pretty boys only had the support of teenage girls.

She turned the pages to find the article about Li Syaoran. Its title was "Best Actor of the Year." The article talked about Syaoran bringing home two Best Actor of the Year award for two years in a row. He was the first youngest star to ever do that. On the bottom of the article, it was concluded with pictures of him on the red carpet.

From them, Sakura could tell that the man had very good taste in fashion. During the summer film festival in 2009, he wore a pair of gray caprice with a navy v-neck short sleeves and white flip flops. His hair was, as usual, messily styled.

As Sakura turned the page, something caught her eyes, again. It was yet another article about Syaoran but this one had titles in bold red. "Syaoran Admitted to Dating Six or Seven Women in the Past Two Years!"

In the article, it mentioned the interview Syaoran had with Aya about his love life as a player. On the bottom of the page, there were pictures of him and his various girlfriends, taken by paparazzi.

After Sakura read the article, she was disgusted by him. Any of her previous admiration for his looks and talents got thrown into the bottomless ocean. She wondered why Tomoyo wanted to have him model for her. He was the type of man Sakura hated the most. He was arrogant and irresponsible.

* * *

"Sakura will be modeling for you?" Tomoyo's mother, Daidouji Sonomi, asked excitedly. Her short haircut flew up as she spoke. She was a stylish businesswoman with bold red lips.

"Yes, mother. Sakura agreed to be my female model. Now, all I need is to find the male one," Tomoyo replied.

"And who would that be?"

An image of Li Syaoran flew into Sakura's head. "Li Syaoran," Tomoyo replied proudly. Sakura wanted to tell Tomoyo that he was a bad choice but her conscience didn't allow it to happen.

"That's good child." Sonomi leaned in closer towards Sakura and Tomoyo as she studied Sakura's face dreamily.

"Sakura's definitely inherited the model features from her mother," she smiled and said. "Your mother was beautiful. She used to be a part-time model before your entire family moved to the States."

Sakura nodded happily. Though sometimes she felt insecure for not having any old memories, she liked listening to stories from her past: ones about her childhood, her family, and especially her deceased mother, who Sakura had only heard stories of but never seen.

At times, Sakura blamed herself for not feeling sad about her mother's death. Sure, it seemed unfair to her that after she'd lost all her memories and past feelings for the ones she'd loved. But, she felt that she wasn't being a good daughter for treating her mother's death so lightly, regardless.

Today, however, she decided to not let those troubling worries get to her. For the rest of the dinner, Sonomi and Tomoyo shared their stories with Sakura of her beautiful mother.

**

* * *

**

Valkyrie85:

I know. I know. The chapter had pretty much the same purpose as the first one, which was to introduce the main characters. I'm sorry that the good stuff is taking so long to happen. Thank you for reading this chapter! Now, we can finally get onto the fun stuff! Review please! 


	3. Chapter 3

**Valkyrie85:** Good day, folks! I couldn't wait until Friday to put this chapter up since I finished writing it for quite some time, so here it is! I hope you wil enjoy it. Please review!

**Chapter 3**

"I like this dress. You want to try it on?" Tomoyo asked Sakura as she pulled out a dress from the clothe rack. She gave the dress a considerable analysis. It was a simple, short-sleeve, black dress with a waistband around the hips that made the top part baggy. The lower half was lacy and flimsy and would rest a bit above the knees if Sakura wore it.

_Perfect. It accentuates her long legs. _

"Sakura?" Tomoyo looked up from the dress when she heard no reply.

Her friend was looking at the jeans on the other side of the shop. "I like these." She pulled a pair out and looked at it.

Tomoyo said disapprovingly, "Sakura, we have to buy our dresses quickly and head over to the restaurant. We're meeting him at 6," She didn't think that Sakura took the dinner meeting very seriously.

Sakura put the jeans back to where they belong and approached Tomoyo with an unintelligible expression on her face. "Why do you have to ask him? Isn't there some other big star out there?"

Tomoyo was surprised at Sakura's unwillingness. "Why do you say that?"

"Because he seems like an arrogant bastard. You will have a hard time working with him."

Tomoyo smiled. "That's what the tabloid magazines say, but we shouldn't trust that. You should know how it works in the entertainment industry. Hollywood is all full of lies, right?"

She grabbed Sakura's hand and walked her to the dressing room area. "Besides, he might not actually agree to model for my company. It's probably very insignificant to him," she added sadly.

"Don't worry, Tomoyo. He will agree. If he thinks your company is insignificant, then he wouldn't have agreed to go to the dinner in the first place." Sakura smiled at her encouragingly.

"You're right. Now let's choose the dresses and head to the restaurant."

* * *

Sakura took a small sip from her glass of water, again, for the 5th time. Then, she checked her cell phone for the time. This had become a routine in the past half an hour. Water. Time. Water. Time.

Through the corner of her eyes, she noticed Tomoyo still keeping up that small smile on her face.

"You really don't have to keep that up."

Tomoyo gave her a confused look.

"You know what I'm talking about." Sakura turned her whole body towards Tomoyo, her expression annoyed.

"Why do we have to wait here like idiots when we know he's not going to come? Stop putting on that patient smile of yours, Tomoyo!" Sakura considered it a huge improvement of patience that she didn't just leave when Syaoran had a no-show 20 minutes ago.

During formal businesses, the biggest delay some people could ever have was 10 minutes at max. It pissed Sakura off that Li Syaoran thought he was at the top of the world and other people had to wait endlessly for him to show up.

Tomoyo sighed. "You don't understand, Sakura."

"I totally understand!" Sakura retorted. "I know that you have high hopes for your company, and you want to hire a model who's very famous, but why do you have to make yourself go through unnecessary trouble when you could just do it the simple way?"

She even made sure her voice was kept low so the others in the restaurant wouldn't hear. Damn, she really had changed.

"The new collection was designed with Syaoran and you in mind, as my models. If I can't have him model for me, then it would mean I have to redesign all the clothes…"

Tomoyo always knew what was right for her. If she put it that way, Sakura had no right to interfere. She drank the water silently and resumed her water, time routine but not for long.

"You're Daidouji?"

Sakura looked up to find a man in an expensive D & G v-neck shirt and aviator sunglasses, smiling down at them. Her heart reluctantly skipped a few beats, and then the annoyance towards him quickly replaced it.

Tomoyo stood up and shook his hand. "Daidouji Tomoyo, the CEO of Daidouji Inc. Hi Syaoran."

A player, Syaoran had already checked out Tomoyo twice in the short period of time. _Too sweet, not my type._

He sat down. "And who may this be?" He looked at the pretty girl with auburn hair sitting across from him. Her facial expression was very uninterested.

"Kinomoto Sakura," the girl said, not bothering to smile or shake his hand.

Then, time froze. _K-Kinomoto Sakura?_ Syaoran quickly used his playboy skills to look over the girl in front of him. _She's gotten prettier and more feminine. Her nose grew taller and her baby fat disappeared. Holy shit! She's hot._

As an experienced actor, he quickly erased any sort of facial expressions off his face.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Syaoran." Syaoran gave her one of his killer smile but the girl wasn't moved. In fact, she didn't even react to the mentioning of his name.

_Did she completely throw me out of her life?_ This possible realization irritated him, not that he remembered her much in his life, either.

"I have just opened Daidouji Inc. and will have my first fashion launch in a few weeks," Tomoyo said. She didn't waste any time at the get-him-satisfied method.

Inside his head, he was still examining Sakura, who checked the time on her cell phone. His mind was too preoccupied that he absent-mindedly muttered, "Mhm" to Tomoyo.

"I will be launching my first ever collection this month and I need someone like you to model for me."

He nodded his head but didn't say anything. He admired his prodigious decision to not take off his sunglasses when he first entered because now, he got a pretty good view of Sakura while still looked like he was paying attention to Tomoyo.

"So, will you take this offer into consideration?" Tomoyo asked.

"No."

The woman sitting diagonally across from him frowned. "So it's a no?"

He withdrew himself to focus on Tomoyo, instead, and realized that he had said something without thinking. He didn't even remember what he said, but he wasn't about to admit that. "Of course it's a no."

"I understand, but I can guarantee you that if you model for me, I will make you an even bigger celebrity than you already are," Tomoyo convinced confidently.

Syaoran gave a humorous, short chuckle. "Miss, it's good to be ambitious but don't you think your fantasies are going too far?" In order to keep up the image of someone who had been attention the whole time, he just had to say something.

He leaned back against his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and continued, "You should probably go find some normal models and have them model for you, instead. The more famous ones, like me, don't model for small companies."

The smirk on his face now was notorious. "But don't feel down. You are one of the few small company owners who I have had dinners with. Other young owners like you—"

SPLASH!

He was interrupted when Sakura dumped her cup of cold water, which just got refilled by a waiter, over his head. He quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed, but the damage was already done.

"You immature, self-centred, arrogant bastard!" Sakura yelled loud enough so that the interested onlookers in the quiet restaurant heard her.

"You come here half an hour late and don't even have the courtesy to apologize! You even dare to trash my friend like that. You think you're so mighty, huh? Well, fuck that!" She settled the glass cup onto the table harshly and pulled Tomoyo up from her seat.

"Let's go, Tomoyo." Before she stormed off with Tomoyo, she made sure that she was going to be at her heart's content tonight for having her time wasted by him. "And take off those retarded sunglasses. You look like shit!"

After that, Syaoran drove back to his million-dollar apartment, both in peace and mortification. Fortunately, he had those sunglasses on, so he was able to leave the restaurant as a man who just got spazzed at by a crazy woman but not, thank God, as the famous celebrity—Li Syaoran.

He knew that in tomorrow's news, all weather would be clear.

Once he arrived at his home, he quickly showered and got into bed.

If it had been someone else, he would have made sure the person got sued. As he lay in his bed, he recalled the way Sakura had yelled at him back in the restaurant. Uncontrollably, his perfect lips curved into a small smile.

_Some things just never change._

Then, he allowed exhaustion to take him over and he fell into a peaceful night of slumber.

_

* * *

_

Ding Dong! Ding Dong!

Syaoran woke up from his heavy sleep at hearing the ringing doorbell. "Who the hell comes so early?" he cursed.

He rolled out of bed and sauntered to the living room to open the door, unwillingly. "It's you. Morning," he said to Eriol while trying to stifle a yawn.

Eriol closed the door and followed him to the couches. Syaoran immediately dropped dead on the grey suede couch.

"How was last night?"

Without opening his eyes, Syaoran sneered, "As worse as it can get."

"I thought you meeting Sakura would have made you happier?" Eriol asked with curiosity.

"Would you be happy if she dumped an ice-cold cup of water over your head?" Syaoran asked menacingly.

Eriol hid his smile.

"How do you know that she was there, anyways?" Syaoran looked at Eriol expectantly. He leaned his head against the back of the sofa instead of the arm.

"Before you were notified of this meeting by Hikari, she sent me a company brochure of Daidouji Inc. On the model list, her name was at the very top. I'm guessing she will be the company's main female model."

Syaoran didn't answer for a few seconds. _She's modelling, now?_

"So I guess it didn't go well?" Eriol asked, more to himself.

"All I said was the truth about Daidouji's company, and she comes and pours that god-damn freezing water over my head!"

Syaoran shot up, angrily. It was still a wonder to him why he wasn't mad last night. Perhaps the surprise of seeing her again had something to do with it…

"You're taking this pretty smoothly. If it were someone else, I think they would be in jail by now."

Syaoran became hesitant, "She didn't seem like she remembered me at all."

"That's natural. She got into a car accident 7 years ago and lost her memories," Eriol said like it was the most common thing ever. Then when he saw the surprise on Syaoran's face, he added, "I thought you would have noticed that last night…"

"How is it that you know so many things about her?" he asked, suspiciously.

"I overheard from a few workers at Daidouji Inc. when I went to check out the company. I thought you would have agreed to model since your parents and the CEO's mother are business friends."

Eriol's remark set Syaoran's walls up. He defended himself, "I don't model for EVERYBODY. C'mon, I'm Li Syaoran!"

His friend ignored his arrogance. "Well, since you rejected the offer, let's not put too many thoughts into it, anymore. I have more important matter to discuss with you, today."

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** So what did you think of the chapter? Tell me! Do you think Syaoran still likes Sakura? What do you think will happen? Have a great weekend! The next chapter will be out sometime next week for sure, and no later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Valkyrie85: **Hey guys! Thank you all for reading and reviewing for the other chapters. It was really a bless to read your reviews! They help me a lot in improving my story. Anyways, here's the 4th chapter. Please enjoy and review!

**Chapter 4**

Eriol stared at Syaoran gravely. Any trace of casualness from their short conversation about Syaoran's dinner with Sakura was erased completely from his face. Now, it was time for serious business.

"What's going on?" Syaoran couldn't help but ask the obvious. He sat up straight on the sofa, looking at Eriol with equal solemnity.

His friend took out a folded newspaper and handed it over to him. As he unfolded it, big bold letters began to form the title.

"Best Actor of the Decade Award Nominee List Coming Out on the 1st of August," Syaoran read the title out loud.

"Exactly, and you have to be on it," Eriol declared. "But so far with your problem, this goal is a long way to go."

Syaoran stared at his friend for a very long time. Eriol didn't need to explain the 'problem' and Syaoran already knew. "How do I do that?" he finally asked, uncertainly.

Eriol said as he leaned back against the back of his sofa, "You need to drop your playboy title, or at least in front of the public. The shorter time it takes the higher chance you'll be on the nominee list."

Syaoran gave a confused look that matched his feelings inside. "How is that going to help me?"

"Human beings are easily convinced," Eriol explained. "You read the comments I showed you last time didn't you? Almost every criticism in there was related to your playboy attitude. Once one person, and unfortunately a very influential one, brings up the consequence of your playboy lifestyle to your acting, the other people begin to look for it in your acting."

Eriol crossed his arms over his chest and continued, "Then, they will notice it and blame it all on your love life just because one person had said it, even though they really aren't sure if that's the reason for your bad acting."

Syaoran understood the basic idea of Eriol's words. He repeated his words in his head.

"So now I have to act like I'm not a playboy anymore. Then, the public gets the delusion that my acting will also have an improvement?" Syaoran asked in conclusion.

Eriol nodded sternly. Syaoran might act stupid sometimes, but when it came to serious matter, he was quick to catch on.

"This industry is bullshit," Syaoran cursed. "At first when I began, you trained me to become a player because you said the public liked that type of personality. Now that I've reached this level, I have to drop it and turn into another type of person." He sighed mockingly. "Why can't I just simply act?"

Eriol rose from his seat and replied with a lighter tone, "Because that's how this field works. By simply acting won't get you far in this career. You need to be scandalous at times. But since you are already a successful actor and model who no longer needs the single reputation, it's time for you to alter your image."

Seeing Eriol, Syaoran quickly got up from his seat as well. "Leaving already?" He asked and yawned.

"Yes. In the mean time, think of some ways for you to achieve that. I've still got some things to work on at the company." With a wave of his hand, Eriol left.

After the door closed, Syaoran entered his spacious bathroom and turned on the water in the standing shower. As the warm water ran down his body, he thought over the conversation he had with Eriol.

To him, it was a complete joke. He remembered when he had first joined the film industry after a few years as a model, Eriol asked him a very simple question. "Do you want to be at the top of the world?"

Without really knowing what it had meant, Syaoran answered, "Yes." Ever since then, Eriol told him that his life was going to be changed forever. And it sure did.

In order to turn the answer into reality, Eriol helped him to transform from his old quiet and shy self into someone entirely different, someone like who he was today, a playboy. Eriol had told him that fans fancied scandalous stars rather than the boring ones. So, he started attending exclusive clubs and parties to upgrade his status.

At first, everything seemed so weird to him. He was never the sociable type back in the States, though he may have hung out with some of the popular socialists in the school. He didn't enjoy being in the spotlight, nor did he enjoy living as an irresponsible person. Then, as time passed, he gradually got used to that type of care-free lifestyle.

Naturally, his reputation in those types of events increased. People became more aware of him, and he was nicknamed as a "playboy" by everyone because he started to openly flirt with girls in public.

How he had achieved his current success was all thanks to both his scandalous personal life and his passion towards acting. He wasn't sure which of the two was more prominent. Right now though, maybe the second one. That was why Eriol told him to alter his image to save his career.

Did that mean he had to go back to the old Li Syaoran, who was quiet, shy, and nerdy? That thought seemed very unattractive. But then something even more unattractive came to his mind…

He remembered the way Sakura had described him last night. She said he was self-centred, immature, and arrogant; he had never possessed any of these back when he was just a normal person.

Suddenly, he felt troubled. Was it insecurity he had towards his new self? Did he feel irritated that Sakura didn't react to his appearance last night, unlike the other girls in Asia? Or was he just pissed off that Sakura hated the new him but liked the old him?

He considered these possibilities and realized that the source of his troubling feelings came from the combination of all three. He quickly turned off the water and wrapped his body with a towel. Then, he went back to the living room to retrieve his cell phone and punched in a few numbers before it began to beep.

"Hello?" a cloudy voice muttered into the phone on the other line.

"Hikari, can you give me Diadouji Inc.'s number?" Syaoran asked.

* * *

"What would you like to drink, mister?" a waitress in her mid-twenties asked Syaoran with a polite bow. He looked up and smiled charmingly at her. "Just an espresso, please."

The waitress blushed furiously but didn't let it to affect her job. "Sure," she said with another bow. As she collected the menu in front of Syaoran, he quickly added, "Also, please give me a strawberry crème milkshake."

The tall waitress nodded and left.

Syaoran stared out the French window lazily, watching the passer-bys come and go on the sidewalk. He liked this café and came often because it was one of the few in Tokyo where the most publicized figures, like celebrities and politicians, could freely hang out without the risk of being eavesdropped.

Looking out the window, he noticed a familiar auburn-haired beauty, wearing a white blouse and black shorts, quickly approaching the café. Her hair was slightly blown backwards due to wind. He watched her enter the café and was stopped by a waiter at the front podium.

At that moment, a mixture of emotions flew into him. He convinced himself that he was just nervous about what he was going to discuss with Sakura, and nothing more; he no longer had feelings for her. That was a done-deal a long time ago. After he dropped every aspect of his old personality behind, he dropped his feelings for her, as well.

"Miss, do you have a reservation?" the young waiter asked. He looked at her in non-obvious awe, but Syaoran still noticed it.

Sakura surveyed around the cafe and recognized Syaoran's messy chestnut hair. "I'm here to see Li Syaoran," she said politely, her face plastered with a warm smile.

As if on cue, Syaoran approached them loftily. "That's okay. She's my friend," he said to the waiter. He led Sakura to his table and returned to his original seat. Sakura sat into the chair across from him.

"How about you order something to eat?" he asked, handing the menu to her.

"How about not," she replied dryly, the previous warm voice she'd used towards the waiter long gone. She wasn't in a good mood to sweet-talk Syaoran. After the things that had happened last night, Tomoyo and Sakura hadn't talked much because she was so sad that she got rejected by Syaoran. "What is your purpose for asking me to come?"

Syaoran leaned in closer and said lowly, "Shall we make a deal?" Sakura's eyebrows raised.

"I reconsidered the offer from last night and I decided that I want to model for Daidouji Inc…"  
He was cut short when the waitress from before approached them with two drinks on a tray.

"Here are your drinks," she said as she placed the espresso and milkshake on the table. Both Sakura and Syaoran thanked her at the same time. The waitress bowed and left.

Syaoran pushed the milkshake towards Sakura. "Strawberry Crème Milkshake." She looked at it and quickly pushed it away. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't drink milkshakes." She knew she was being a bitch but who gave a damn about someone who had insulted her best friend so badly last night?

Syaoran shrugged nonchalantly. "Didn't know what you like, so the waitress recommended this." He took a sip of his espresso to collect his thoughts. _Of course she wouldn't like it. That was so many years ago._ He thought and mentally slapped himself.

"So where were we at? Ah yes. I think I was wrong about making such a reckless decision last night," he continued, looking into her mesmerizing emerald eyes.

"Your friend has the potential. I want to help her out." His declaration received a cold suspicious look from Sakura.

"You look like you don't believe me," he spoke her mind.

"I don't," she agreed. She believed there must have been some ulterior motive. He ignored her commentary with a lazy smile. "In order for this to work, I need your help."

At that moment, he leaned even closer towards Sakura, arms resting on the table. Sakura smelt an intoxicating scent from him as he neared. "I need you to be my fake girlfriend." He grinned.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind, Li?"

Interesting remark, he thought, even though he had been expecting something like this because Sakura was just so different. If she were some other girl, the answer would have been an automatic "Yes."

Syaoran's lazy expression suddenly became very serious. "No, I'm dead serious," he spoke with solemnity. Sakura wondered if this sudden shift in mood was due to his acting or simply because he was serious.

She studied him before asking, "How is that even related to you wanting to model for my friend?"

Surprisingly, he began with the same easy tone as he had used before he turned serious. "The public will not believe my simple reason to help her-"

"Neither do I," Sakura interrupted but Syaoran continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"That's why if we pretend to be going out, they will think that I'm modelling because of my love for you." Sakura shuddered at the thought of having any love for this arrogant, immature man.

"But why does it have to be me? You could just go ask Tomoyo to pretend dating you. It works that way too," Sakura asked without thinking. She cursed herself for ever bringing that up. What if he took it for a good idea? It would be a torture to see Tomoyo going out with Syaoran, even if it was pretentious.

"If I do, then it will be bad for your friend," he explained patiently. "The public will assume that she seduced me into modelling for her. It will ruin her reputation."

Sakura didn't want to admit he was good at planning things ahead. Regardless, she still thought he had an ulterior motive and she spoke her mind.

"I think there are ulterior motives." She looked at Syaoran suspiciously.

Syaoran sighed. Suddenly, he felt like talking to Sakura was exhausting. He spoke with less patience. "Say if I do. It's still a win-win situation. I help out your friend and you help out me. There'll be no harm done, especially since you don't like me that much. There's not much you have to do in this act. The most we have to do is go on a few dates and that is enough for the paparazzi to write things about. Once we persuade them, they will accept my reason to model for your friend."

He added, "Besides, you wouldn't want to see your friend sad, right?" Sakura knew he had a point. If he did have an ulterior motive, he would still be helping out Tomoyo. It wasn't like he was going through all this trouble to ruin Tomoyo's company.

Her expression gave her in.

"I know you know I'm right. So just agree to it," he said confidently with a half-crooked smile.

Sakura grabbed the napkin in front of her and took out a pen from her bag, while Syaoran watched her amusingly. "Fine. I agree to it but only under two conditions."

Syaoran's eyebrow raised in fascination. "One, we cannot have any sexual interactions." He smirked.

"What?" Sakura asked dangerously at seeing his smirk.

"I just find you so close-minded compared to your American counterparts," Syaoran said with a small chuckle.

She retorted coldly, "What, you think everyone's like you?"

"And two," Sakura continued, "This fake relationship will end the minute your contract with Tomoyo is over." She wrote down what she said on the piece of napkin, rapidly. Syaoran nodded.

"Aren't you afraid that if you demand too much, I will call off the contract?" Syaoran asked with pure curiosity.

"No," Sakura replied honestly. "Because I still believe that there's an ulterior motive to this deal and it's very important to you."

He smiled. "Fair enough. Add two more to it while you're at it." He tapped on the napkin as he said that.

"One," he said, holding up a finger, "No one else other than my two managers, you, and I can know about this deal." Sakura looked at him accusingly. "Why your managers can know but Tomoyo can't?"

"Do you think she would sign the contract with me if she found out that her friend sacrificed herself for this, especially when she knows that you don't like me?" Syaoran asked matter-of-factly. It surprised Sakura that he was so…smart about these things.

"Okay, fine." Sakura wrote down the third rule onto the napkin. "What's the second one?"

"Anyone who exposes the secret will have the following punishment: for you, I will make sure that your friend's company will never again have a future in this industry—"

"What is this? Don't you think this is too harsh?" Sakura interrupted angrily.

He sneered. "Do you know what the consequences for me and my career will be if the world knows about this lie?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What about you? What if you accidentally or willingly expose the deal?"

"Then, you get to ruin my career. You can spread any rumour about me and I will agree to it," Syaoran spoke with such diligence that it was impossible for Sakura not to believe him.

Once Sakura wrote down all four rules, she signed the agreement napkin as did Syaoran

"Nice doing business with you," Syaoran said with a grin. He stretched out his hand towards Sakura. She unwillingly extended her arm towards him and he wrapped his larger hand around hers.

"Yeah," she said.

* * *

"You what?" Eriol and Hikari exclaimed in unison, though they were experienced enough to not catch other people's attention in the busy restaurant.

"I said, I will be going out with Sakura, and then I will sign the contract with Daidouji Inc," Syaoran replied lightly, never looked up from his plate of food.

Eriol and Hikari looked confused. Why, all of a sudden, he wanted to model for the small company, after declaring so many times that his celebrity status did not allow him to model for anyone? Why was he going out with Sakura after the uneventful encounter he had with her?

"Didn't you tell me to drop the playboy title?" Syaoran explained when he saw their confusions. "Well, if I go out with Sakura for a very long time and act like I'm committed, then people will no longer question my attitude towards love." Syaoran explained.

Eriol's expression turned from confusion to disgust. "You must be out of your mind!" he exclaimed, unbelievably.

Syaoran smirked. "Funny. That's exactly what she'd said."

Hikari placed a hand on Eriol's shoulder to calm him down and added in a motherly tone, "You're using her, Syaoran. It's not good."

Syaoran sneered. "Talk about using! She agreed because I said I would sign the contact. Dating the famous Li Syaoran is a very lucky thing, you know."

Eriol and Hikari rolled their eyes.

"I think this is a horrible idea," Eriol said with a slightly calmer tone of voice. He placed his knife and fork on the table and completely stopped eating.

Normally, Syaoran would have listened to Eriol because he was always right but today, he felt like doing it, despite his opposition.

"I don't think it's that bad. She gets to help her friend, and I get to be on the nominee list," Syaoran shrugged.

Eriol warned, "Whatever you do, don't hurt her."

Eriol suspected there was more than just trying to put up an image as a committed lover when he signed the contract with Sakura. If he wanted to act committed, he could have just found any girl in the world, one who was less stubborn than Sakura, to help. Syaoran must have had something in mind to choose her out of everyone. Whatever it was, he promised to find out discreetly and then decide on whether or not to discontinue the deal.

Right now, things didn't seem at their worst. So, Eriol dropped the subject, for today.

"So, what do you have in store for this deal?" Eriol asked curiously.

Syaoran gave him a huge childish grin. "I'm going on a date with my wonderful girlfriend tomorrow and show her off to the world!" he proclaimed, excitedly.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **Now that Syaoran and Sakura tied their 'knot,' what will happen? Thanks for reading! Please review to tell me what you thought about the chapter. Chapter 5 will most likely be uploaded sometime next week. There might be a chance it will be a few days late because I'm leaving the country for my summer vacation in a few days. BTW, everyone have an amazing summer!


	5. Chapter 5

**Valkyrie85:** I'm not going to lie. I am actually on summer vacation in another country and I have been here for three weeks. During these weeks, I've been slacking off on finishing the last part of this chapter, that's why it's so delayed. Another minor reason for this huge delay is because I don't always have internet access, here.

I hope the author's note I posted a few weeks back didn't offend anyone. I wasn't expecting that many feedbacks for the note, but thank you all for your endless support. I hope this chapter won't disappoint any of you!

Finally, I would like to conclude this author's note with some general information on the characters. I didn't realize that I haven't put in the age for the characters in the story.

Sakura-22, returned from NYC to be trained at Tokyo General Hospital as a doctor

Syaoran-25, left NYC after he graduated from the high school in NYC that both him and Sakura used to attend and went back to his hometown, Hong Kong, with his parents and cousin. After his 4 years of university education, he went to Japan and began his modelling career at the age of 22. After two years, he began his acting career.

Eriol-25, attended the same high school as Sakura and Syaoran. He is Syaoran's best friend.

Tomoyo-22, born and grew up in Japan. Before Sakura lost her memory, they used to be best friends. Now, they are best friends again.

****THIS IS A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR READERS TO ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS STORY. I WILL TRY MY BEST TO ANSWER THE ONES WHICH I FIND THE MOST APPROPRIATE. FROM NOW ON, EVERY FIFTH CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN AN OPEN INVITATION FOR READERS TO ASK QUESTIONS REGARDING THE STORY...!**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Sakura smiled, inwardly, as she strolled along the side of the empty road in Tomoyo's neighbourhood. She had left Tomoyo's house without the accompaniment of any bodyguards, after convincing the overly protective Aunty Sonomi that she was safe by herself, outside. Sonomi was very protective because she felt that she was responsible to take care of Sakura for her deceased best friend, Miyazaki Nadeshiko.

Just as Sakura enjoyed the guilty pleasure of freedom under the hot sun, a low amused voice from behind sounded and startled her.

"Need a ride, love?"

As she turned around, she found a black Porsche Boxster slowly following her, with its driver's window rolled down. She stood where she was until the car also came to a halt next to her.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, irritation immediately appeared on her face once she saw the classic smirk plastered on Syaoran's face. Why did he always make an appearance when he knew he was unwanted?

"I've been waiting out here for quite some time," he answered with a flirtatious wink.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Great. Didn't know you were a stalker, as well."

"Nah," he replied lazily. "Not a stalker. Just a loving boyfriend who wants to take his girlfriend out on a date."

His statement revived the memory of the events from yesterday. She answered with a frown, "I can't. I have something to do today."

He gasped mockingly. "What could be more important than going on a date with your boyfriend?"

Already knowing what his purpose for visiting was, Sakura continued walking. If he were another person, she would have acted politely and waited until the conversation was done before leaving, no matter how much she disliked talking to the person. However, when it came to Syaoran, she didn't find it necessary to practice her good manners.

Syaoran's car began to move behind her, too. "Let me guess. Could this important business involve you finding a part-time job?" he asked curiously.

This question abruptly stopped her, again. "How do you know?" She glared at Syaoran.

"Well," replied Syaoran, clearly amused at Sakura's sudden focused attention on him, "I called Daidouji last night to discuss about the contract—"

"And she told you?" Sakura interrupted, disbelievingly. He nodded.

"Wait. You called her about the contract?"

"Yeah. We're meeting at Thousand Island at seven tonight and you have to be there with me," he replied.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "She never told me about it!" She felt both betrayed and confused, and at the moment, she didn't care if Syaoran saw through her.

"Of course she didn't," he explained matter-of-factly. " From what I can tell, she's planning on going by herself, tonight, because she knows that you hate me. Which is why you have to be there with me. If she sees us on good terms, then she'll be more willing to sign the contract."

"If you don't go," he added, "she may end up not signing the contract no matter how much she wants to because she knows that her best friend will have to work with the man she hates."

Once again, Syaoran's reasonable explanations surprised Sakura. To her, it seemed impossible that an immature and arrogant player such as he would ever be able to consider matter from all angles so thoroughly.

"Did you major in psychiatry?" she questioned her curiosity.

Syaoran became fascinated. "Nope. I'm just natural like that," he answered, knowing what Sakura's question had meant. "So, do you want to go on a date with me now, my lovely girlfriend?" He studied Sakura's face, quietly, as she pondered.

Compared to the other girls he had dated, her beauty would definitely lose to them, but there was elegance within her, despite her young age; and the vibe she sent off was mysterious , though she was sunshine bright on the outside.

Sakura finally asked, "Where are we going to go?"

The smirk on his face grew. "Hop on. You'll see!"

She went around the Boxster to the passenger seat, its door already opened by Syaoran from the inside. "Welcome, love."

She sat stiffly in the seat.

"C'mon. Don't you want to put your seat belt on?" he asked. "Or, do you want me to do it for you?" he added mockingly as he moved closer to Sakura.

"No thanks. I can do it myself." She quickly extended the seat belt and buckled it in.

"Alright. Let's go!" He put his sunglasses on and stepped on the pedal hard as his much-loved sports car moved with inhumane speed down the road. Sakura wondered if he had taken her comment about his sunglasses seriously because the glasses he currently wore weren't the pair from the restaurant.

The scent in his car was inviting. The smell of aroma relaxed Sakura. Yet, the opposite feeling was emitted from the owner of the car.

Sakura stared out the tainted window beside her. Rows and rows of trees flew by. She realized they were already speeding down the hill, leading them to the lower part of Tokyo and away from Tomoyo's wealthy neighbourhood.

"Did you seriously plan on walking all this way to the bus stop?" Syaoran questioned, without looking away from the road. Due to restriction, buses were only allowed access starting from the bottom of the hill.

Sakura replied coldly, "Yeah. I like to be environmentally friendly."

"Why do you need to find a job? Don't you already have one at Daidouji Inc.?"

"I'm just helping her," she replied. Syaoran remained quiet as he drove, probably gave up on the thought of ever having a proper conversation with her.

"Where are we going?" she asked and shivered as she stared out the window at the always-crowded streets.

The small smile on his face changed into a big grin. "I figure you haven't got the time to tour around the city?" He quickly turned his head and back to the road.

"No."

"Well, let's tour around the city today!" he exclaimed. Sakura's eyebrow rose. "Now, you're a tour guide?" she asked.

"Of course. For you, my dear, I can transform into anything you want or need," he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "You sure are nice. I wonder how much of your generosity is out of the kindness of your heart?"

Syaoran's head turned to Sakura before looking straight at the road, again. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there's got to be a reason for you to take me out, today. A person like you wouldn't be caring enough to help a newcomer get used to a new place."

The familiar smirk returned to his perfect lips. "Smart. It was a right choice to choose you for this. Other than the purpose of convincing your friend that we're an item, we have to first make ourselves publicized before the public knows about the contract. Going to downtown would be the best place to be spotted by paparazzi."

"Scary," Sakura replied, "Celebrities try so hard to avoid them, yet you go look for them. You're a great manipulator." Her tone of voice was filled with disgust.

"Half correct. I can manipulate everyone, but just one."

Sakura stared at him and asked, "Who?"

"Well, let me keep this only secret to myself. I've already exposed so much of my personal life with the world," he smiled and said.

Sakura shrugged and remained silent as she looked at the road ahead. She didn't want to know who it was, anyways. The speed of the car slowed down when they neared the sidewalk. Syaoran found an empty spot and parked the car.

"We have to be very into our roles, today," he said as he turned off the engine and grabbed a black cap from the side of his car. "From my experience, they will be following us everywhere we go once they find out it's me, but they will keep their distance in case of being discovered."

Sakura remained silent, but Syaoran knew she was listening carefully.

Looking at the mirror, he gave his cap a final fix while he continued, "Even though we are here for business purpose, I really meant it when I said that I want to show you around."

He exited the car and went around to her side and opened the door for her. "Let's have fun, shall we?" he asked with a smile. He offered his hand.

_Anything for Tomoyo_. Sakura carefully extended her arm and took hold of his soft hand. It was a new kind of experience for her. She had never once held a guy's hand like that.

She got out of the car to be surrounded by a lot of pedestrians walking both towards and away from her.

"How are you coping with the always-crowded streets?" Syaoran suddenly asked at seeing the anxiety on Sakura's face.

"Still not used to it. It's always so crowded, here," she replied.

They stopped for the person walking towards them to pass before continuing on. "But it's crowded in New York City, isn't it?"

Sakura replied, "But it's nothing compared to this. How do you know which city I come from?" she questioned suspiciously.

Even though they were holding hands, Sakura made sure that their distance was as far as their position allowed. Nevertheless, she felt him shrug. "I just do," he answered casually. _Of course he does. _Sakura was already getting used to his ability in finding information about people so quickly.

"I'm surprised, though," he added, "Why can you speak Japanese so fluently when you immigrated to NYC at such an early age?"

"I spoke Japanese at home with my brother and dad. The English part was done outside of my house. How about you? I read an article that said your family immigrated when you were young, as well. How come you can speak Japanese so well when you are Chinese?"

"Good point. I guess I'm just very hard-working. Ever since I came to Japan from New York I started practicing Japanese every single day," he said jokingly.

At the mentioning of New York, Sakura suddenly turned her head towards Syaoran. "New York? What city?"

Syaoran looked down at her and said casually, "New York City."

"WHAT?" Her eyes widened. "You lived in New York City, too?"

"Tsk. The things you know about me are even less than the fans," he mocked. Sakura didn't answer to his commentary.

They continued walking in the crowd, without a destination. "Which store do you want to check out?" he asked. Sakura looked at the stores sitting on the side of the sidewalk. LV, Gucci, Prada, Valentino…all designer brands. Syaoran took her there because he knew these things cannot be rejected by women.

However, none of the stores were the ones that she was interested in visiting, today. "So, this is the best way to get to know this city, huh?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran shrugged. "If you don't want to go to any of these, we could go to the one that I want." He excitedly pulled Sakura along until they reached World Records, a place where music albums, books, and DVDs were sold.

"I thought you were going to show me around town? Why did we end up going to the place that you want to go?" Sakura asked, even though it didn't matter where they went. As long as the goal of their trip was accomplished, where they went didn't matter.

"Well," he replied casually, "I can't help it when you don't want to enter any of the shops. It's very hot outside, you know?" He dragged Sakura to the back of the big shop. Sakura's eyes almost fell out when she saw the aisle label. "You listen to classical music?" she asked, unable to control her astonishment.

"Yeah. I listen to it in the morning. It's a good way to start the day." He smiled down at the surprised Sakura.

"You seem surprised," he added.

"Your personality seems so off, though," Sakura replied, more to herself.

Syaoran retorted, "From what I can tell, you like classical music too. Your personality seems more off than mine."

He added, "Ripple Classic recently released a new collection of the top ten billboard classics. I've been waiting for its release, but I haven't got the time to buy it."

Sakura watched him drop her hand and picked up the squared album and looked at it adoringly. She didn't think it was possible for someone like him to show that type of emotion.

"What are some of the songs?" she asked with interest, as she walked closer to take a look at the album. It was the first time since the two had met that they stood within such a small distance, which was even smaller when they were holding hands.

Syaoran flipped the album over and read the song list on the back. They were indifferent to their distance. At least, Sakura wasn't Suddenly, he wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulders as he pulled her closer to him and read the list out to her. Sakura stiffened. "They're behind us," he whispered in her ears, the volume was just enough for her to hear. Sakura peeked upwards at the mirror against the wall. She saw the reflection of two young men hiding behind a few wracks and sticking out their camera to take their pictures.

"I like this one," Sakura interrupted Syaoran when he reached Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor, in hope of playing along.

"Hm…Interesting taste," Syaoran commented. "I like this one, too." Sakura rolled her eyes.

When they finished going through the list, he asked, "Are you going to buy one?" She nodded and reached for the stack of the album but was beaten by Syaoran. He quickly took another and went to the front cashier.

"I can pay for it, myself," Sakura said to Syaoran when he took out his wallet to pay. He placed his hand over hers and pushed it back beside her side. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you pay?" He smiled and gave the cashier some money.

"Thank you," the young cashier said. She handed the bag to Syaoran, who in return gave her a polite smile. He grabbed Sakura's hand and walked out the door.

"Thanks for paying," Sakura said, once they were out of the store. She got out her wallet ready to pay him but his hand was suddenly on hers. "There's no need to pay me back. Let's just treat this as a gift to mark the beginning of our fake relationship," he whispered into her ears that sent chills down her spine.

"Shall we continue?" He grabbed her hand, once again, and pulled her along beside him. Walking just a few blocks down, he led her into a shoe store that was decorated with glass shelves filled with sandals, heels, and flats from the latest season. Fast disco music was played in the background.

"Why are we here?" Sakura asked under her breath while smiling at the small row of bowing female retailers.

"I noticed you were having trouble walking in those flats," he answered loudly, purposely wanting the workers to hear him. "Is it because they're new? That's why they hurt your feet?" He bent down to her feet and ran his hand over her ankle.

Sakura's body temperature increased at his touch. She wasn't comfortable with being touched like that by the opposite sex, not to mention someone like him. "Yeah, this is my first time wearing them," she answered, trying to play along. She assumed that there must be disguised paparazzi around, but she was too surprised at the fact that he had noticed her small discomfort. If it weren't for the benefit of further advertising her relationship, she wouldn't have admitted her shoe trouble.

Syaoran got up from the floor and pulled Sakura to the black leather seat. "You sit while I look for a pair of shoes that you can change into."

Sakura watched him browse around the almost-empty shop with a staff member tagged along.

"The leather of this was imported from Italy. It's very soft," the girl, with dyed brown hair, told Syaoran in a small, shy voice. Even with the sunglasses on that covered a quarter of his face, Syaoran was still very attractive. With his tall height and slightly muscular build, he already stood out amongst the shorter and thinner Japanese counterparts. That was why it wasn't surprising that the girl was acting shy.

He ran his hand over the top of the brown heels in his hand. "Her feet won't be able to breathe in this hot weather." He placed the shoe back on the shelf and moved onto the next shelf. "How about these sandals?" the girl suggested at seeing Syaoran's gaze directed at a pair of flip-flop sandals with beads on top.

"Nah. That part between the toes will hurt if she walks too much in it," Syaoran replied as he pointed at the sandal, without looking up at the sales rep.

"Your girlfriend is so lucky to have you," she commented politely. Syaoran smiled. "I know, but she doesn't think so." He pointed his chin at Sakura, who wasn't looking at him at the moment.

"I'm sure she does," the girl chirped, any of her previous shyness was erased at Syaoran's friendliness.

He brushed past a pair of black sandals that suddenly caught his eyes. It was very simple with three roses sewed to the top in a vertical row. "Perfect," he said to himself. "Can you please get size 37 for her?" he asked the girl.

"Of course." The girl hurried off to the storage room at the back of the store.

When she came back with a box in her hand, she handed it to Syaoran.

"Let's get you out of these," Syaoran said as he went on his knees and took off Sakura's pink flats. His voice was so soothing and caring, even Sakura was falling into his act. The simultaneous gasps in awe from the other people in the store weren't helping her find reality, either, and everything at the moment made Sakura feel like Cinderella.

"I can—"

"No," Syaoran interrupted quickly and looked up, "let me do this for you." This had shut Sakura up. It seemed like a warning to shut her up.

He unbuckled the sandals and slowly slid each of her feet into the sandals. "Do you like them?" he asked, looking up at Sakura. To her, his voice actually sounded like he cared about her opinion, and his expression was longing.

"Of course," Sakura replied with a sweet smile, in hope of playing along. "It's beautiful." Her voice was so sweet and sincere, even Syaoran was taken aback. He didn't think she would show that type of expression in front of him, of all people.

"Then, good," he replied happily. He turned to the girl beside him and said he was going to buy them.

"Thank you," the cashier thanked Syaoran as he handed her some bills. "You are so lucky to have a boyfriend that loves you so much, miss," she added to the Sakura standing beside Syaoran. Sakura couldn't say anything other than smile.

Both of them left the store hand-in-hand. A gust of warm wind blew at their faces.

"I'll pay you back," Sakura said as they walked.

"You don't have to, but if it makes you feel better, then sure," Syaoran replied. He wasn't going to force Sakura into doing something that she didn't like. If she wanted to pay, then no problem.

"Who were the paparazzi?" she asked, quietly.

Syaoran gave her a confused look. "What paparazzi?"

This time, it was Sakura's turn to show her confusion. "I thought they were there or were following us into the shop. That's why you bought the sandals for me…"

Realization hit him. "Oh, yeah. There was one who had a camera hidden behind her bag," he said casually. Now, it made sense as to why Sakura had shown him those expressions and bothered to answer his questions like she cared. She had thought there were reporters all along and thought he was acting the entire time.

"I'm hungry," he said, amusedly. "Let's go eat."

_How dense can she get?_

* * *

Before today, she had never realized how big of a star Syaoran was. Every single time she had seen him, she felt like she was the unluckiest person in the world. However, after the whole day out in downtown, she was starting to get the idea of Syaoran's fame in this country. His face was plastered on many advertisements outside of stores and on the walls of tall buildings, and wherever they went she always heard his name being said by the others.

Super Fit, an international fitness centre, had Syaoran half stripped, showing his 8-pack abs.

Happily Ever After, a large-scale wedding planning company had Syaoran and a very pretty girl wrapped their arms around each other while they wore beautiful wedding garments.

Calvin Klein Underwear had Syaoran in their classic men underwear.

After they had left the Sushi restaurant, which they had went for lunch, Sakura noticed a large screen, up on the walls of a tall building, showing a commercial of Syaoran's.

Syaoran, dressed simply, was having dinner with a girl with long wavy hair, whose face was covered by the light from sunset out the window. Slightly at the end of their dinner, Syaoran suddenly went in front of the surprised woman and went on his knees to propose. In his hand was a small opened box with a small, purple, diamond-shaped rock with four small circle rocks surrounding it.

The woman nodded happily as Syaoran slid the ring onto her finger. The commercial endded with the woman crying in joy and being spun around by Syaoran.

The commercial was typical and a little lame, but the main idea was clear. Marriage rings don't always have to be expensive diamonds. As long as the thought and love are there, nothing else matters. Rolie was the company that allowed customers to custom make their rings.

Sakura was quite touched by the commercial. She kind of wished she were in the girl's position, but wished that someone who would propose to her wouldn't be like Syaoran.

"Surpsied?" Syaoran had asked. Sakura looked up and found out that he had been watching her the whole time through his sunglasses that he never once took off. The way his lips formed told her that he found it amusing but at the same time, irritating.

"Yeah, I guess," Sakura simply replied. She continued walking and her hand was soon held by his.

They arrived at Thousand Island. A woman standing at the podium greeted them with a bow. "Good evening. Do you have a reservation?"

Syaoran took off his sunglasses and smiled at her. "Li Syaoran and Daidouji Tomoyo at 7."

The woman blushed furiously as her pitched raised an octave high. "Yes, Miss Daidouji is already inside."

Syaoran and Sakura entered the restaurant. She suddenly became very nervous of showing up in front of Tomoyo with Syaoran as her 'boyfriend.'

Syaoran must have felt her anxiety because the hand he was holding Sakura's with suddenly went around her shoulders.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. You just have to go along with me like what you did today," he whispered into her ear.

Sakura didn't say anything but was a bit grateful for his support. She spotted Tomoyo sitting in a table at the back of the restaurant, chatting happily away with a handsome man, sitting beside her, with navy-coloured hair and wore glasses. She was so nervous that not even the few turning heads from the other tables bothered her.

"Sakura?" When Tomoyo saw Sakura with Syaoran, her greeting suddenly became an uncertain question. She sat there, stunned.

"Good evening, Miss Daidouji," Syaoran greeted with a polite smile. He used his other hand that wasn't around Sakura's shoulders to shake Tomoyo's hand. Then, he pulled the chair out for Sakura as she nervously sat down.

"Ah, Syaoran. This must be Sakura," Eriol said, trying to make the situation less awkward. He turned to the person sitting across from him. "I'm Hiiragizawa Eriol, Syaoran's manager and the co-chair of P&B Entertainment."

Sakura shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, . I'm Kinomoto Sakura."

_She really has grown into a fine woman. _Eriol thought.

"Eriol is fine," he said. "Looks like you and Sakura are an item now, huh?" Eriol turned to Syaoran. Sakura thought Eriol was just as good an actor as Syaoran, but Eriol seemed more likable than Syaoran.

Beside her, Syaoran took Sakura's hand from under the table and brought it up to his face. "Oh, yes. She was really hard to chase," Syaoran said.

"How so?" Eriol asked, actually sounding curious.

"The whole day out, she gave me such a hard time whenever I wanted to pay for her," Syaoran answered. It was amazing to Sakura how he can twist things up like that with the truth.

"I thought you were going to find a job?" Tomoyo suddenly spoke, for the first time since Sakura and Syaoran joined them. Her tone of voice was accusing, probably because she felt betrayed that Sakura didn't tell her about her relationship with Syaoran, first.

"I—"

Syaoran interrupted Sakura. "She was, Miss Daidouji. She didn't know that I was waiting for her outside of your house, and when I saw her, I begged her to go out with me." His voice was so real, even Sakura was almost convinced.

"So, that's why you asked me where Sakura was heading today?" Tomoyo asked Syaoran, disbelievingly. He nodded.

Tomoyo made eye contact with the still-nervous Sakura. _Tell me all about it at home! _

"Sakura," Eriol said. "Syaoran may act like an asshole sometimes, but he really isn't a bad person." If Eriol was trying to play along, Sakura didn't see through it. "If he ever hurt you, you make sure to tell me."

Diagonally across from him, Syaoran smiled. He released Sakura's hand and said, "I know you two are curious about our relationship, but I hope we can discuss about the contract, now."

* * *

"Thank you," Sakura said to Syaoran. They were in Syaoran's car, on the way back to Sakura's home, after he told Tomoyo that Sakura had left something in his car.

"For what?" Syaoran asked, looking at Sakura with surprise. Even if it was risky to take his eyes off the road, especially during night time, he felt it was worthwhile to check if Sakura's expression matched the sincerity in her voice.

"For signing the contract, for saving me from Tomoyo at dinner, and for driving me home," said Sakura, sincerely.

Syaoran wasn't used to this new side of Sakura, and he didn't hate it. "Oh, that. You've forgotten about one more thing."

Sakura gave him a confused look.

"I saved you from being attacked by Daidouji. If I didn't drive you home, you would be dead by now in the limo. I don't think she would waste a minute," he mocked.

Sakura smiled. "And that, too. Thank you for sacrificing Eriol to drop her off," she joked. "But how do you know these things about people so well?"

Syaoran's lips rose into a half-crooked smile. "I've played way too many roles, so I know how some people think."

"Thank you," Sakura said without hesitation.

Syaoran's annoying smirk returned, as he said, "Oh, dear. It seems that my girlfriend doesn't hate me, anymore."

Did she really hate him less, now? "You're wrong," she said, staring out at the rows of trees, illuminated by street lamps.

"Hm…?"

"I never hated you in the first place. It's just that whenever I see you, there are always images that suddenly fly into my head and cause me headaches. With your personality, it makes me dislike you even more," she explained. "It's just dislike, not hate."

"Oh, so now I'm like a shooting bullet that cause you headaches?" he joked.

Sakura ignored his comment. "After spending the day with you, I realized that you're not as bad as I originally thought you were. I guess I don't dislike you, anymore, but that doesn't mean I like you, either," she continued.

"If not friends, maybe we can be friendly business partners?" he asked. The car came to a halt in front of Tomoyo's mansion. Sakura noticed that Tomoyo's room lights were on, which meant that she had been back for quite a while because Syaoran purposefully drove slowly.

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "Drive safely." She got out of the car walked towards the gate. Syaoran made sure she safely entered the mansion before driving off.

* * *

**Valkyrie85:**It was a very long chapter with a lot of dialogue between Sakura and Syaoran. What will happen between them now that their relationship has somewhat improved? I've put in some hints here and there to introduce a future problem...if you know what it is, you can tell me in the review! **REMEMBER TO LEAVE A REVIEW! THE BUTTON IS RIGHT BELOW!**

**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Valkyrie85:** Good day, folks! I know this update took very long, but I promise you this will be the last time that it's going to take so long because I have returned to Canada from my summer vacation. Now, I can concentrate on writing and updating the story on a weekly/2 week schedule. I uploaded the chapter in a hurry, so please forgive me if there are a lot of mistakes. Also, please tell me the mistakes so I can fix it. Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 6**

* * *

"Maybe you should take a few days off," Tomoyo suggested to Sakura, kindly. The two of them were in Tomoyo's office, looking at different pictures of runway shapes for her upcoming fashion show.

So far, things were progressing smoothly for Tomoyo. Firstly, her best friend was finally dating someone. Secondly, Syaoran agreed to model for her. And finally, Eriol was coming to her company today to officially sign the contract. Things couldn't be any better.

However for her best friend, things seemed to be at their worst. The morning after her "date" with Syaoran, newspapers, magazines, and radio stations began to cause a huge storm of reporting and discussing their relationship. Sakura knew that something like this was going to happen at the time when she agreed to become Syaoran's "girlfriend," but she didn't think it would be so large-scaled as such.

Added to her amazement was anger. The press widely advertised their relationship, like what Syaoran had foreseen, but they also dug into Sakura's personal life and some even trashed her like she was worthless crap. Being negatively talked about by everyone everywhere she went had become a torture for her.

These few days, she had been shutting herself away from the rest of the world, keeping her anger and depression all to herself.

"Maybe I should," Sakura agreed with a sigh. Tomoyo stared at her friend in surprise. Sakura usually didn't agree with people without a good fight.

The effect of the reports on her had hit her harder than she thought. Tomoyo suggested, "You could go back to New York-"

Sakura quickly interrupted, "I was thinking about visiting my grandparents…but now it seems like a risky choice." She frowned and continued with anger, "The reporters might track me down to Yokohama and begin to bother my grandparents."

Tomoyo used the opportunity of Sakura's show of anger to add in her thoughts. "Don't be angry at Syaoran," she began with a kind voice and looked into Sakura's tired eyes, "He probably didn't see all this coming, either."

_Of course not. He was the one who planned all this, Tomoyo! _The fact that her best friend was defending the man who had turned her life into hell didn't sit well with her. Regardless, she couldn't say anything to Tomoyo. If she found out about the reason why Syaoran decided to work with her company, Tomoyo would be very sad.

Just at the mentioning of his name, Sakura became angrier. It reminded her of the conversation she had had with him just the morning after all the current mess happened.

**~~Flashback~~ **

Tomoyo ambushed Sakura with stacks of newspapers and magazines held against her chest. Sakura confusedly read the first newspaper before her face flushed with anger.

_Syaoran's New Muse?—Tracking Syaoran _

_Asia's number one hottie, Li Syaoran, was spotted on the crowded sidewalks of downtown Tokyo, yesterday, holding hands with a mysterious auburn-haired girl. _

_He, under disguise, was seen being very intimate with the girl. They strolled around downtown and then had lunch at Bento Sushi. _

_Who is this new muse of Syaoran's? Is it just a flirt or a new girlfriend? Everyone is curious about this news, and we are here to answer your questions!_

_New Girl Profile_

_Name: Kinomoto Sakura, 22_

_Origin: Japanese _

_Siblings: Kinomoto Touya, 28 _

_Parents: Unknown_

_Kinomoto and her family immigrated to the United States when she was 6 years old. She recently came back to Japan after finishing 4 years of medical studies in the University of New York, in order to further her education at Tokyo General Hospital. She currently lives with her best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo, who is also the heiress to Daidouji Toy. She is working part-time at Daidouji's newly-opened fashion company, Daidouji Inc. _

Sakura stared at the article after she finished reading. "Why do they know all these information about me, already?" she asked herself.

Tomoyo looked at her friend with worry.

Sakura quickly flipped through the other newspapers and magazines. They were of similar content, all accompanied by images of her and Syaoran together, from different angles. The content of the articles became worse and worse as they talked about Sakura like she were a whore.

Her knees trembled in fear as she skimmed through the articles.

_How much had Syaoran pay her…?_

…_How did this normal girl hook up with the prestigious actor?_

_Is she going after his money?_

They were indirect insults stated in suggestive questions. Even if she wanted to sue them, she couldn't.

The negative things about her out-numbered the positive things.

She hurriedly got up from her bed, grabbed the newspapers, and headed out her bedroom door, ignoring Tomoyo's calling.

She ordered the butler to drive her to Syaoran's house. During the ride, everything seemed to be a blur to her. When the car came to a halt, she took the elevator up to his apartment and banged against his door, madly. It was a wonder why the door didn't break at her force.

"Welcome, my love," Syaoran said with a smile, despite the shock in his eyes, when he opened the door. "Did you come here to have breakfast with me?"

Sakura threw the newspapers into his bare chest and asked angrily, "What is all this about?"

Syaoran looked confused. He looked over the papers, and his expression became emotionless for a second before returning back to a smile. "It seems you still don't understand my status in this country."

"What the hell are you saying?" she said with almost a scream. Thank goodness it was an up-scale apartment that he lived in. All the doors were extra sound-proof.

Syaoran sighed and leaned against the door frame, his proud smile remained plastered on his face. "You don't need to take these things too seriously. As long as you're dating me, they will keep on writing about you, both good and bad."

He talked as if being trashed was supposed to be normal; as if someone's personal life being exposed to the world was normal.

"This is bullshit," Sakura replied coldly.

"I know," he said. "But you agreed to the contract, so now you have to live through all this."

He knew he was being cruel but the fact that Sakura didn't know anything about him bothered him. She acted so normally around him and didn't even budge at his shirtless body.

Sakura glared at him. "You are cold-blooded."

She turned around and stormed towards the elevator. Syaoran called out from behind, "Don't you want to stay for breakfast?"

The Sakura in front of him didn't turn and entered the elevator.

"I guess not," he said to himself before closing the door.

The slightly friendly relationship between the two of them that they had built last night suddenly vanished into thin air. Now in Sakura's heart, only hatred existed towards him.

**End of Flashback**

"So, how many days do you plan on going for?"Tomoyo asked Sakura in the present.

"Three. " Sakura got up from her seat ready to leave.

"Make sure to have lots of fun. Don't worry about me, here!" Tomoyo called out.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Miss Daidouji. Mr. Hiiragizawa has arrived to see you," the intercom said.

Tomoyo stopped typing on the keyboard. "Please tell him to come in." She quickly cleaned some paper off of the surface of her table and then ran her hands through her smooth, long hair.

When her office door was being knocked, her heart suddenly started beating quickly before she forced it to slowly return to normal.

"Come in," she called out.

Eriol walked into her office wearing his normal wear, a professional suit, with a gentleman smile on his face. "It's so nice to see you, again, Tomoyo," Eriol said politely, although he didn't use formality.

There was a light crimson colour on both her cheeks. She shyly, yet firmly, replied, "The same." She motioned for him to sit in the chair in front of her desk.

"It seems like a very comfortable workplace," he commented, looking around her office. The way it was decorated felt more like a home than an office, dark purple comfortable-looking couches and a widescreen TV. It was very unlike his plain office.

Tomoyo's smile widened. "Yes. I work better if the workplace felt more like home."

Eriol nodded in agreement. "Indeed. That's why at such a young age, you are already much more accomplished than the others of the same age."

Tomoyo blushed furiously but didn't let it affect her ability to speak. "Well, thank you. You are, too, for your age. At the age of 25—"

"Turning 26, actually," he quickly corrected.

"Alright. At the age of 26," Tomoyo emphasized the age, "you are already the co-chair of an entertainment company so successful that you have Li Syaoran under your contract."

She wasn't sure if the redness on Eriol's cheeks was due to the outside heat or because he was blushing. Either way, the extra colour suited him well, in her opinion.

Eriol pretendeded to cough. "Speaking of Syaoran, he is filming right now so he can't be here to sign the contract."

Tomoyo nodded in understanding. "That's fine. What he has to know is all on the contract. I will go over the list with you now. If you have anything that you want to change or add, you can tell me and we'll compromise."

Eriol looked at her approvingly. "No one will believe that you've just started this business. The way you have just explained was perfect."

Tomoyo shyly looked away. She felt very flattered, though she knew he was just being polite.

Over the next 30 minutes, Tomoyo and Eriol went over the policy of the company and the contract.

* * *

"Good! Let's take a break and resume after lunch!" With a clap of her chubby hands, the director dismissed the crew on set.

Actors and staff members began to move around the set, some setting up the scene for the afternoon filming and some returning to the dressing room for lunch.

"Thank you," Syaoran said to the actress beside him, who was only staying there for two scenes, playing Syaoran's mother. He nodded to the staff members as he and the woman walked past them.

The short woman's tense expression loosened up at seeing Syaoran's kind smile. Before the wrap up for lunch, the atmosphere around the set was very tense, like always. For anyone who had worked with Syaoran would know that he expected perfection in his movies. Therefore during filming, he and his co-workers became were very serious. However, as soon as the filming was done, he became the normal Syaoran who treated everyone friendly.

The woman smiled but didn't say anything.

Shortly after, Syaoran returned to his personal dressing room to find Eriol already seated on the sofa, reading something in his hands with concentration.

"When did you come?" Syaoran questioned, pouring himself a glass of wine in the little bar area designed personally for him.

Eriol closed the thin booklet in his hand and placed it on the coffee table in front him. "Not for long. I came here right after seeing Tomoyo."

Syaoran walked over to him with the glass in hand. "Is that the contract?" he directed his chin at the papers on the coffee table.

"Yeah. I read everything over. It's actually very well-written. I don't see any problems with this."

Eriol handed the contract to Syaoran, with the last page flipped open, and a pen.

"You know," Syaoran began with a mocking tone, "I've noticed how you always flatter her. Are there going to be any confessions soon?"

He signed the contract and handed it back to his friend with a smirk on his pretty face.

Eriol coughed. His cheeks glowed a light pink. "It's the truth. Speaking of the contract, your colleague slash fake girlfriend has left for Yokohama this morning. Did you know?"

Syaoran took a sip of his wine and asked casually, "Nope. Why?"

At his casualness, Eriol became impatient. "Because in the past three days, she had been followed by the paparazzi, been trashed, and been losing her personal life to the public. Now she has to hide from the public in her grandparents' house."

"And now you say this as if it's my entire fault," Syaoran added.

Eriol's eyebrows rose, "Isn't it? If you hadn't dragged her into this, none of the things would have happened."

"I didn't 'drag' her into this mess," Syaoran retorted, "she 'dragged' herself in because she wanted to help her friend."

Eriol interrupted, "And she wouldn't have done that if you hadn't given her hope. You have to stop this, Syaoran. Both you and I don't want her to get hurt."

"Don't I?" Syaoran asked. Eriol's eyes widened.

"You _don't_ know what you're talking about right now," Eriol warned.

Syaoran gave a defeated sigh. "What can I do to help, then?

Eriol leaned towards Syaoran and told him his plan.

* * *

Miyazaki Misaki and Miyazaki Yamamoto stood side by side in front of their traditional Japanese house and waited for their granddaughter to arrive.

When Sakura came of the taxi, Misaki quickly ran towards her with a hug. "Sakura, my dear!"

"Hi grandma. Hi grandpa," she greeted happily.

She followed her grandparents into the house with a carry-on baggage for her stay.

"Welcome to your home, Sakura," Yamamoto turned to Sakura and said with a gentle smile. He was a man of little words, but his smile meant more than anything.

Sakura looked around the home. She was in the spacious, wooden-floored living room. In the centre of the room was a small square-shaped table. Around each side of the table was a red tatami seat. On the wall, a plasma screen TV was attached. Around the room were sliding doors made of paper and wood. Everything felt very warm and cozy to Sakura.

From what she'd heard, most of her childhood before going to the States had been spent here. Perhaps that was the reason why she was feeling that way.

Misaki grabbed her hand and exclaimed like a child, "Let's get you settled in your room first, and then we'll go to the hot spring in the backyard while your grandpa prepares dinner!"

Sakura could not help but nod. Going into the hot spring sounded like a great idea at the moment with everything that was happening. In addition, it was the first time she was going into a hot spring. At least, it was the first time after she had lost her memory.

Her grandma showed her the room she was going to stay in for the next two days. It was, like the rest of the house, very traditional and simple. The futon she was going to sleep on was already opened and placed neatly beside an orange night stand table. Attached on the wall above the pillows was a long artwork of cherry blossoms.

Beside the futon were two sliding doors, leading her to the balcony, which had a great view of the small road in her grandparents' neighbourhood.

"This room is beautiful…"

"It is. When we heard that you are coming back from the States for two years, we decided to set up a room for you here, so you can come and go whenever you want. This room used to be the one that you lived in when you were young," Misaki said.

She pulled Sakura out the door. "Now, let's go to the hot spring!"

They got their bathing stuff and headed for the backyard hot spring. Placed beside on the ground were two towels and bath robes.

"Because it's summer, we can't stay in here for too long," Misaki says once they were both inside the steam-filled spring.

She released a sigh. "It's been a very long time since we've done something like this together, Sakura. How is the temperature, by the way?"

Sakura felt the temperature was exactly right. She was already feeling very relaxed from all the tension collected in her body. "It's perfect," she whispered.

"So tell me," Misaki said casually, "is it true that you are dating that boy, Li Syaoran?"

Even though her grandma's voice was friendly, Sakura couldn't help but flinch at the thought of having to lie to her grandma. "Yes."

"Hm…how are you two getting along?"

"Not so well," Sakura admitted truthfully.

Her grandma nodded beside her. "That's alright. Young couples always get into fights. You can stay here as long as you want until you can face the media."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Grandma, you knew the reason why I came?"

Her grandma placed a soft hand on her shoulder. "Yes, my dear. I've read newspaper articles about you and that boy. I was waiting for your call to tell me that you wanted to come. And now, here you are."

"Grandma…"

"Be brave, Sakura. If you like him, then you have to stand by his side and go through this together. My granddaughter does not run away from problems. After a few days, you will go back and tell the world who you really are," Misaki said in a serene and wise voice.

"I—"

"You are a brave girl," she finished.

When they were done in the hot spring, they headed for the dining room to eat.

_

* * *

_

Sakura looked out the window, anxiously, as trees and houses flew by. She had wanted to tell her mother, who was driving in the front, something but was too nervous to even open her mouth.

_One second later, everything became blank. Then, she started hearing noisy cars honking loudly. She wanted to ask why it was so dark and so noisy, but the words never left her mouth. _

_When she opened her eyes, she found her beautiful mother's leaning forward, against the steer wheel. Sakura blinked twice. Blood dripped from her mother's head and onto her legs. _

"_Mom?" she whispered with fright._

_Her mom didn't answer, nor did she move. _

"_Mom?" she repeated in a louder voice, but her inside began to tremble. _

_There was no answer from her mother. _

"_Mom!__!" _

At the screaming, Sakura's eyes flung wide open. Her breathing was ragged and her body was covered in sweat. She didn't remember much from her dream except for the last part when someone was screaming mom.

Everything felt so real, as if she were there experiencing everything. She could feel her pulse still beating very quickly. She blinked and felt her wet lashes touch the skin on the bottom of her eyes. She realized that she had been crying.

When the feelings began to fade, she got up and went to the kitchen and got a cup of cold water.

She returned to her room and went to the balcony to get some fresh air.

Outside, street lamps illuminated the houses in her grandparents' neighbourhood. She sipped her water, but stopped when something on the road caught her eyes.

Just outside of her grandparents' house parked a black Porsche, with its top open. It was so very similar to a certain person's…

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **There you go! I know there were many mistakes in this chapter, but please forgive me. I will go back and fix them as soon as I have the time. For now, thank you for reading! Remember to **REVIEW**! I know a lot of you are shy and lazy, but please do give a **review**! It's the only thing I ever ask for as a writer! THANK YOU!


	7. Chapter 7

**Valkyrie85: **Hey guys! Just in case if you didn't read the author's note from last chapter, I am going to repeat the note now. I said that this chapter is going to be updated on a weekly/2 week schedule, meaning every week or every two weeks. So, if you came back last week and didn't find an update, I'm sorry and please don't treat me like a person who does not live up to her words because as of today, this is exactly the second week after the last update. ; ) I hope I'm making sense here, LOL. Anyways, here's the chapter. ENJOY!

**Chapter 7**

* * *

The black Porsche outside was too familiar.

It looked like Syaoran's car, but its appearance in front of her grandparents' house didn't make much sense to her.

Why would he be there? If Tomoyo had told him where she was, the chance of him going after her was almost a zero.

It was probably just someone else's car, she thought.

As she engaged herself in deep thought, the car's engine ignited and was driven down the empty road. She stared after the car before laughing out loud at her stupidity and foolishness for ever thinking that he would be there.

Then, she checked the clock, which said four, before returning back to deep slumber for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Good morning, Sakura. You have a visitor," her grandma greeted with a smile as Sakura walked into the living room.

"A visitor?" she asked confusedly. Tomoyo would have called if she planned on visiting her. Other than her best friend, she couldn't think of anyone else who knew her whereabouts. Even the possibility of Syaoran didn't come to her mind.

"Yes," Misaki nodded. "He went outside 10 minutes ago to make a phone call."

Sakura turned around when she heard the front door being slid open. Li Syaoran walked in wearing an Armani shirt, with one hand in his pants pocket. His hair was messy, as always.

"Sorry—" Syaoran wanted to apologize but was interrupted rudely by a shocked Sakura.

"Why are you here?"

At that moment, flashback from 2 days ago began to play inside her head, followed by the image of the car parked outside of the house this morning.

Syaoran smiled dazzlingly at seeing her. However, there was an obvious sign of fatigue in his eyes. "Why else? Of course I had to be here to meet your grandparents," he spoke in a boyfriend tone and flipped her hair with his finger. "We could have come together, you know."

Although his tone sounded convincing, Sakura wasn't fooled. With her back to the old couple, she narrowed her eyes at him.

Syaoran ignored her and bowed to her grandparents. "I apologize. It was a very important call I had to make." he spoke sincerely.

"It's fine, dear," Misaki replied lightly. "We know how busy you are. Why don't you and Sakura sit down. I'll go make some tea to go with the wa-gashi that you went a long way to buy." Misaki rose from the tatami seat and left the room.

Both Syaoran and Sakura sat down on the two empty sides of the square table. Syaoran began to converse with Yamamoto politely, while Sakura discreetly glared at him with suspicion.

Syaoran noticed her glare and seemed to be avoiding direct eye contact with her.

When Misaki returned with a tray of 4 cups, a teapot and a big block of green tea wa-gashi, Sakura asked her grandma loudly, "How long has Syaoran been here for, grandma?"

"About an hour, dear. Syaoran insisted that we don't wake you up," she replied and poured tea into each of the cups. "He is very caring. And kind for buying this wa-gashi ." She pointed at the big block of green, jello-like dessert in front of her as she continued. The brand was, like anything else he would buy, the best one in the market.

"It's nothing, grandma. I heard from Sakura that you and grandpa like to have afternoon tea, so I bought this small dessert," Syaoran said. The fact that her grandparents already let him call them grandma and grandpa, in merely an hour's acquaintance, made Sakura scared.

Until today, Sakura never realized how well Syaoran could act because the next thing that came out of her grandpa's mouth nearly made Sakura faint.

"We hope you can stay for the night, Syaoran," Yamamoto invited. Misaki nodded her head excitedly. Sakura prayed to God inside her head that he wouldn't agree.

Syaoran's smile widened. "Yes, if my stay doesn't bring you trouble. I want to use this opportunity to learn more about Sakura's childhood."

He turned and gave a quick look at Sakura. If her real boyfriend had said that, she would have been slightly touched, but she couldn't do the same for Syaoran because she knew he was just acting everything out in front of her grandparents. As for the reason, it was on the line of convincing the old couple that he and she were together for real and that he was a good man.

"Don't you have to film for your new movie, Syaoran?" Sakura said with clenched teeth and a fake smile.

"Nah. I took 2 days off." He gave her a wink that only she saw.

_You just love to torture me, don't you?_

"How wonderful."

* * *

"This is Sakura and her family," Yamamoto told Syaoran.

The two of them were in the living room looking at childhood photos of Sakura, while they waited for Sakura and Misaki to return from grocery shopping.

Yamamoto was pointing at a photo in the album with four people standing next to each other.

"This is her dad." His finger landed on a man with glasses, in his early 30s. For some reason, the man seemed very familiar to Syaoran. He had a feeling that he'd seen Sakura's dad before, but he just didn't know where.

"And this is her brother." His finger slid onto the next person in the photo. He looked about 10 years-old in the photo and was a lot like Sakura, except his hair was black.

The last person in the photo other than Sakura was introduced with a bit of hesitation. Yamamoto introduced the beautiful lady in the photo with sadness in his voice. "This is my daughter and Sakura's mother. As you've probably heard from Sakura, she died in a car crash 7 seven years ago in New York."

"I'm sorry about that," Syaoran said.

Yamamoto braved a smile. "But God wasn't too cruel. At least he left Sakura with us."

"Yes, indeed," Syaoran replied. His non-hesitant reply surprised himself.

Syaoran studied the photo of Sakura's family members. Looking at her dad again, something clicked inside his head. Her dad was familiar because he must have seen her with her dad back in high school when they had parents' night or something because he really couldn't think of anywhere else that he saw her dad.

"Sakura is very precious to us," Yamamoto began with a warm voice.

"Which is why I have to warn you." The warmth was quickly replaced by coldness. The smile also left his face. "I have seen many reports about you and your scandalous relationships. And I trust that you will treat Sakura sincerely. If you ever dare to hurt her, I will be sure to make you regret."

Syaoran nodded his head seriously. Even though he and Sakura were fake-dating, he didn't wish to hurt her.

"Please trust me, sir. I won't."

Yamamoto was a smart man. He knew honesty when he saw it, and he saw it in Syaoran. For once, he chose to trust someone like Syaoran because he saw sincerity in his eyes.

Yamamoto returned back to the smiling old man from before. "I know Sakura can be very stubborn and unreasonable, sometimes, but please don't take it too seriously. She looks tough on the outside, but she is rather delicate on the inside. Ever since the memory loss, she has been feeling insecure about her life without a past."

Yamamoto released a sigh of grief for Sakura. "She puts on a tough face in order to hide her insecurity. So, please understand her and forgive her misdoings."

"Did the doctor say how many years might her memories return?"

Yamamoto sighed again. "After the crash, the doctor said her amnesia was post-traumatic and the number of years varied. It could be just one years or it could be for a life time."

Syaoran nodded. He felt sorry for Sakura. Having her memory lost must have been an annoying thing, especially when you knew that there was a chance of getting the memories back but without an accurate time.

For the rest of the time, the two of them continued to look through Sakura's baby photos…

* * *

"You must have been nervous the entire night and didn't get any sleep because I was in the room across from yours."

Sakura ignored Syaoran's arrogant remark and the smirk on his face. She was planning on doing the same thing throughout the entire ride back to Tokyo, but it seemed impossible because he kept on provoking her.

"I liked your grandparents," he continued. "They are kind people."

Still, Sakura remained silent.

"Especially your grandma. She may be old, but she's young at heart. Wouldn't it be great if all the old people were like that?"

Sakura pretended to look out through the window and wasn't paying attention to him, but Syaoran knew better.

"Next time, we should go to Yokohama together, again."

Finally, Sakura turned swiftly to the side and glared at him. "Honestly, why did you come?"

"I came here to meet your grandparents, of course," he said with a grin at finally achieving the goal of making Sakura speak.

"Funny," she gave a small laugh without humour. "Your true intentions don't match what you've just said."

Syaoran smiled half-crookedly. "Like always, you don't believe me."

"You're right. Like always," she agreed. "So tell me, Syaoran, what's the big _plan_ behind this 'going-to-Yokohama-and-become-fake-girlfriend's-grandparents'-suck-up' shit?" Sakura asked coldly.

"Well, if you really want to know, I might as well just tell you. I'm hosting a press conference this afternoon to clear things up about you, and I needed your grandparents to be the witnesses."

"Press conference. Clearing things up. Witnesses. You make me sound like a criminal going to Trial."

"In a way, you are. We will tell the media that we are dating and that your grandparents approve of me, which they do. Then, they won't say all kinds of negative things about you, anymore. At least, not the ones related to you seducing me."

Sakura glared at him. "How nice. What made you change your mind after you so cruelly told me to _live through_ the rumours quietly because that was part of the contract I signed?"

"All kinds of negative things about you and our relationship will affect the image of Daidouji's company. So, we need to clear up your name and use the opportunity to further advertise our relationship before Daidouji Inc. releases the names of their new spokespersons."

Though his explanation was reasonable and sensible, Sakura still had the suspicion she always had for Syaoran. Like always, she knew there was another hidden motive behind his reasoning that went along with the deal she had with Syaoran. She promised herself that before the end of their deal, she would find out what it was.

"Okay," Sakura said. Overall, she didn't find anything he'd said to her disadvantage, so she wasn't going to complain.

* * *

There were two reporters seated in each of the 14 white rectangular tables, with a laptop in front of each of them. Cameramen stood on the sides and at the back of the room, getting ready to film the conference.

As the double doors opened, Hikari first entered. Then, Syaoran, in a white suit, followed after her holding Sakura's hand.

At that moment, camera lights began to flash endlessly.

Sakura couldn't help but cover her eyes from the blinding lights with her free hand. Without knowing, she was already seated in a chair beside Syaoran's. Beneath the table, Syaoran's hand was still glued to hers.

It was probably to comfort her and, at the same time, to remind her not to make a mistake during the conference.

However, making a mistake for today seemed inevitable. For the first time in her life, Sakura felt very uncomfortable in her own skin because she was wearing something completely out of her league, a pink tube dress that rested a bit above her knees. In her opinion, the dress showed too much cleavage.

Other than the dress, her makeup was the second reason that she felt so uncomfortable about. Today, the makeup artist went for a sexy look. She gave Sakura smoky eyes and doll-pink lips. It was a wonder to Sakura how the current image could help her clear her name of a seductress.

Hikari grabbed a microphone and announced, "Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming to the press conference today. Now, the conference is going to begin."

Hikari walked towards Syaoran with the microphone and handed it to him.

"Good afternoon. The reason why I'm hosting this conference is to clear up some rumours about Kinomoto Sakura and me," Syaoran said into the microphone in his hand as well as the bouquet of microphones in front of him on the table. Lights began to flash at his introduction.

"We are dating, and the reports about us in downtown are true. We were out on a date in downtown because I wanted to show Sakura around town." He smiled and handed the microphone back to Hikari.

"Now, if you have any questions, they will try their best to answer within the time limit," Hikari said. She handed the microphone back to Syaoran, again.

A lady sitting at the back of the room stood up and asked loudly, "You have never admitted to any of the other relationship rumours, but how come now you are making this one public?"

"First of all, those reports weren't true so I don't see why I had to admit anything. Now I'm making this relationship public because people are going way over-board with trashing Sakura, and I don't like it," Syaoran answered with faked honesty. Sakura knew that he didn't care at all and he was just saying it to save his image.

A young man in the front stood up and directed his question at Sakura, "Considering how Miss Kinomoto is also from New York, did the two of you meet back there?" Flash lights became more desperate at the question.

Sakura's body temperature began to rise. She was so nervous that she couldn't open her mouth to speak. Then, she felt Syaoran's hand squeeze hers lightly.

She quickly blurted out from the memorized script, "No. We met after I came back from New York."

"How did you two meet?" the man pressed on.

Sakura took a deep breath before saying, "His friend and my friend are good friend. When the four of us had dinner one night, we got along very well."

The man satisfyingly nodded and sat down. Syaoran gave her another small squeeze on the hand, indicating success to her answer.

Another man with glasses got up from the first row and asked, "Do you plan on getting married?"

Syaoran felt Sakura's body getting tense.

"Do we, Sakura?" he looked down at her and asked jokingly.

In return, fright appeared in her eyes.

Without an answer from her, Syaoran turned back to the reporters and answered, "Nah. We don't know where this relationship is heading just yet. But, she is very important to me, so I hope that all of you know where your limits are when you write those things about her." He ended the sentence with threat in his voice.

Suddenly, Hikari used another microphone and interrupted quickly, "The conference has now come to an end. Thank you all for coming!"

As Syaoran helped Sakura up from her seat, lights began to flash again. A few of the reporters from up front asked the two of them to pose for the camera.

Syaoran smiled sexily. "Of course." He turned to Sakura and grabbed her face with both of his hands.

Sakura's heart froze at that second. She was too shocked to stop everything from happening.

She couldn't react and just watched as he slowly descended upon her face…

* * *

Valkyrie85: OMGGG! SO THEY KISSED? AHA! I bet that's what you're thinking right now! ; ) Thanks for reading! Remember to leave a review...in the review, maybe you could tell me, for example, what kind of scenes you would like to see more of (ex. when Syaoran and Sakura are out having dinner, when Syaoran and Sakura are talking, when Sakura tells her feelings about Syaoran to Tomoyo, when Syaoran tells his feelings for Sakura to Eriol, etc.). Also, you could tell me what kind of scenes you don't give a damn about, so I can make the story more entertaining for you! (Sorry for the language). The next chapter will come out either next week or the week after, and no later ;D

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! PLEASEEEEEE!**

I made a blog recently in order to post story news updates from now on. It will be updated almost daily. If you want to check it out, it's in my profile page under HOMEPAGE.


	8. Chapter 8

**Valkyrie85: **Thank you all for your suggestions and comments you made in the reviews. They really helped me a lot and in this chapter, I've included some of scenes that some of you wanted to read about. I just can't express how grateful I am for all of your support! I'm happy to announce that in the last chapter, the number of received reviews past the highest record! I am really happy ;D! Thanks, everyone! As promised, this chapter is uploaded on time, within the 1-2 week range. I hope you will like this chapter and will review afterwards, thanks! ENJOY!

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Sakura froze. She watched Syaoran's perfect lips descend upon her own. Before they landed, she shut her eyes and fearfully anticipated the contact because she knew that if she struggled, the press would become suspicious.

His hands cupped her face tightly, as if he were preventing her from escaping.

She waited, just like everyone else in the room, but the kiss never came. When she began to hear the voice level increase in the room again, she opened her eyes only to be blinded by cameras that flashed furiously.

But, she didn't understand why the press was so excited when the kiss clearly didn't happen.

Ten seconds later after she came to the realization that he had faked the kiss by using his hands to cover up their mouths, Syaoran softly broke away from her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively and began to pull her with him to the exit door, through the sea of paparazzi and cameramen, who were unintentionally blocking out their path.

"_What do Mister and Misses Li say about this relationship?" _

"_Have you met her family?" _

"_How long do you think this relationship will last?" _

The room was in complete chaos. Syaoran's personal security guards pushed through the crowd and safely escorted Syaoran and Sakura to the door.

Hikari and another of Syaoran's bodyguard waited impatiently on the other side of it once they left the conference room. "Hurry!"

She led them back to Syaoran's dressing room and ordered, "You two stay in here while I go take care of the rest."

The door closed.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked, actually sounding a bit worried when he noticed her sitting frozen like a statue on the sofa, her face slightly paler than usual.

It was the first time that he'd called her by her name.

Syaoran kneeled in front of her and stared into her eyes. She returned the gaze and nodded. Ironically, she didn't stiffen at their close distance. Instead, she felt her muscles loosening up.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that. It must have been too overwhelming," he apologized, voice soothing. He ran his hand down her hair, acting like an absolutely different Syaoran as the one Sakura used to know.

She shook her head. "Thank you for not doing it."

The gratefulness in her voice hinted him on what she'd meant. Somehow, he felt a little hurt by it. "I would never force you into something you don't want," he told her truthfully.

Sakura looked at him in surprise and then broke down into a smile. It was the first real smile that she'd ever given him.

The smile reminded him of the Sakura back when they were in high school, when things between them wasn't so complicated.

The door knob turned. Hikari walked in, alone, and came to an abrupt halt at seeing Syaoran and Sakura's position.

Syaoran quickly got up from the floor and stuffed his hands inside his pockets. "Everything okay, now?"

"Yes. We managed to get them out of the conference room, but they're still waiting outside of the main entrance. A lot of your fans are outside protesting too," Hikari said to Syaoran. She then turned to Sakura and smiled.

"Sakura, honey. You did a very good job out there."

At her compliment, Sakura blushed. This was the first time Sakura met Hikari, and she already developed deep respect for her because she thought it was brave of Hikari to raise a child on her own while facing many obstacles that could come along the way in her life.

"Thank you," Sakura replied softly.

"We have to stay here a bit until the press is cleared up outside. Meanwhile, Syaoran come with me. I have some things to discuss with you."

Syaoran followed Hikari out of the room, leaving Sakura all by herself.

The two of them entered another dressing room a few doors down. It was designed the same way as his, but just smaller.

Syaoran leaned against the wall casually and waited for Hikari to speak.

"Just what were you thinking back there! Don't you know that if you threaten them, they will use all kinds of ways to get you back?" Hikari said sharply with a frown, much to Syaoran's prediction.

"They didn't bring that up," Syaoran replied, unaffected by Hikari's tone of voice.

Hikari sighed loudly. "You have to understand this one simple concept, Syaoran. In this business, celebrities _do not_ mess with the paparazzi."

"It's not like you to discipline me when we're outside," Syaoran spoke his mind curiously and received a sidelong glance from her.

"And it's not like you to make a reckless move." Hikari continued after studying him.

Syaoran shook his head. "It's not reckless. I'm just saying the truth. They should know what their limits are."

Hikari forced a desperate sigh. "You would never have done these kinds of things before, Syaoran. Wake up! You cannot fall for Sakura!"

The old smirk returned to his face at her protest. "You must be tired, Hikari, for saying this kind of thing—"

"Even if Eriol thinks it's okay if your relationship with her becomes real, I don't agree," she interrupted. "It will ruin all that you've accomplished up until this day."

Syaoran stared at the floor for a very long time, considering her words. She was right. Up until this day, he had worked so hard, harder than anyone else, to have the fame that he had today. After university in Hong Kong, he immediately escaped his destiny of becoming the next CEO in his family's company, and came to Japan to start off his career.

He thought it was easy at first, but once he began to work in this industry, he realized how dark and dangerous it was. People in the entertainment industry either slept their way up or strategically worked their way up, which was often done behind closed doors. But there were some exceptions that climbed their way up the latter without doing any of those things, and Syaoran was one of them.

This was one of the reasons why while other stars fell and rose, he always remained stable on his path, under the guidance of Eriol and Hikari.

And of course, nothing in this world can be taken without paying a price. He sacrificed a lot of things along the way.

Syaoran understood Hikari's words. She was only trying to protect him. "Okay. I will be more careful from now on," he said.

Hikari nodded approvingly. Then, her phone began to ring.

"Eriol," she said and paused.

"Yes, I was just talking to him about it."

"Yes….Okay. Are you sure that's a good choice?"

"Okay, then. I'll go announce that right away."

She put her phone away and looked at Syaoran. "Eriol and Tomoyo both agreed that right now is the best opportunity to announce your partnership with Daidouji Inc. Since the press is still outside waiting, I will go and announce it."

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit," Syaoran replied and both of them exited the room.

He walked back to his dressing room while Hikari hurried off to the front of the hotel.

"I'm not going back and you will _not _come here!" He heard Sakura speaking angrily into the phone. Her back was facing the door so she didn't know that he had walked in.

"He doesn't know anything about me! No one here does, except for Tomoyo and Aunty Sonomi!"

She paused and listened to the other side speaking. Syaoran quietly walked to the sofa and started flipping through a fashion magazine.

"If I don't know you're in Hong Kong doing business with them, how is he supposed to know?"

Pause.

"No! You're being unreasonable here—"

Pause. Sakura's voice was rising every single time she spoke. Syaoran had never seen her so angry before.

"He doesn't care about those things. That's why he's in Japan—"

Pause.

"I am not a child anymore, okay? You are being overly-protective and unreasonable. If both grandma and grandpa are okay with this, then you should be too."

Pause.

"Don't you understand the consequences if you come?" she asked with desperation. "If you come, everyone will know about our relationship. You will mess up everything, all of mom and dad's hard work. You will mess up my future."

Syaoran stopped in the middle of flipping the magazine when he heard what she'd just said. He stared at Sakura's back curiously.

Sakura sighed. "Please, brother. I can't go back, yet. I have to help Tomoyo."

Then, the room fell into silence for the longest time.

In an appreciative tone, she answered, "Thank you, Tou—"

She took the phone away from her ear and looked at its screen. Her brother, Kinomoto Touya, had just hung up on her, but she wasn't affected by it because he had agreed to let her stay in Japan.

She noticed her fist slowly loosening up. Until then, she didn't even realize how frightened she was when she was talking to her brother and how much she wanted to stay in Japan. She didn't think she had a chance at winning the argument.

She released a sigh of relief at her victory, but when she turned around, all the happiness shattered.

Sitting on the sofa not far away was Syaoran, interestedly engaged in a fashion magazine.

She nervously tightened her hold on her cell phone but calmly collected herself before she spoke, "Have you been here for long?"

Syaoran looked at her and then returned to the magazine. "No. I just came in and saw this really interesting magazine on the table. Giorgio Armani's got a great collection this season."

To Sakura, Syaoran didn't seem like he heard anything from her phone conversation. He looked too interested in the magazine to even pay any attention to her.

"I didn't hear you coming in. Where's Hikari?" Sakura asked. She walked back to the counter and grabbed her handbag, dismissing her suspicions.

"She went to announce my new contract with Daidouji Inc."

Sakura stopped. "That's kind of sudden."

"Yeah, Eriol and Daidouji called and said they thought it was a good opportunity to have them announced together. It will cause a huge commotion and be a great way of advertising."

Sakura shook her head. "The people in this industry are so dangerous and manipulative."

"Don't forget, your friend contributed as well," Syaoran replied with smirk.

* * *

After Hikari returned to the dressing room, she said the press was cleared up and they could leave. Syaoran insisted on taking Sakura home personally even though it was broad daylight outside, for fear of her getting attacked by his fans or paparazzi.

"You aren't skilled enough to handle those situations yet," he said while he drove behind the wheel.

The car moved slowly down the downtown road, which was heavily congested due to rush hour. On the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians.

"Does your brother ever come back to visit your grandparents?" he asked casually while he waited for the line of cars to move forward. The mentioning of Touya set Sakura up on full alert. It made her cautious again.

"That's kind of random."

"I just thought that since your grandma is so loveable, a grandson from far away would visit often, or maybe make a few phone calls every week," he replied.

Sakura's shield went down. She believed he didn't hear the conversation from his reply. "He visits them once a year and calls them often."

"And what about you? How come you don't come back with him every year?" Sakura was a little surprised that he still remembered this was her first time back in Japan ever since the car crash.

"I…had to study," she murmured uncomfortably.

He noticed her discomfort and turned to quickly look at her. "Seven years ago, you were only in grade 9. You mustn't have been that busy."

She sighed. "I didn't want to come back."

Syaoran didn't press on and just waited quietly. The car was beginning to move at normal speed.

"After losing my memories, I didn't want to face them. The more they sympathised me, the more pressure I felt. Being around them always made me feel like a replacement of the old Sakura. And having no memories made me feel like I was an empty human-shaped shell."

At hearing Sakura's exact words of her feelings, it reminded him of what her grandfather had told him back in Yokohama.

"You were fine when we were in Yokohama."

"I try my best to not think of things that way anymore, but it just comes back to me sometimes."

"And what about your dad. Does he visit?" he asked and made a left turn, heading up the hill to Tomoyo's neighbourhood.

Sakura hesitated. "He's…a manager at a bank. He's pretty busy and never has the time to visit."

Syaoran nodded impressively. "You've got a very hardworking dad."

When the car came to a halt in front of the empty gates, he added, "I guess your aunt's security guards have already driven the reporters away. But it's better if you keep your eyes out constantly."

"Okay. Thank you," she replied, about to open the car door.

"No goodbye kiss?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. The old Syaoran was back.

"Goodbye," she said, ignoring his comment. On the way walking into the mansion, she mentally slapped her head for telling Syaoran those things. Why did she do it, anyways?

Syaoran watched her safely enter before punching a few numbers into his phone.

"Daniel," he began professionally in English, "please send me a copy of the information you collected from 7 years ago about Kinomoto Sakura."

* * *

"You're reading a book."

Eriol walked into Syaoran's dressing room, with newspapers in his hand, stunned at seeing his best friend engaged in a thick book.

"Just like what any human being would do," Syaoran replied, putting the book aside.

Eriol sat down across from him with a smile. "The Li Syaoran I know only reads scripts during his free time."

"You make me sound like I have no life."

Eriol grabbed the book with both of his hands and read the title out loud, "The Study of Amnesia." He looked at Syaoran with eyebrows rose.

"I found this book really interesting, so I bought it," Syaoran admitted truthfully.

Eriol smirked. "If it's _that _interesting, lend it to me after you're done with it."

"Yea. If you want. I have a question to ask you. The book says there are ways that people who've lost their memory can practice in order to get their memory back. Do you think these methods are credible?"

Eriol shrugged. "I've only seen these done in dramas. In real life, I don't think they're that possible."

"Oh." Syaoran's expression faltered a little.

"Why do you ask?" Even though Eriol already knew why, he still wanted to hear from his mouth.

Syaoran casually took the book back from Eriol and replied, "Just curious." Then, he looked at the newspaper beside Eriol and asked, "Is there something you have to tell me about?"

Eriol looked at his newspapers, and nodded. "Yes, just came to tell you the public's reaction to your new relationship. The results were pretty impressive. Even though the press conference was announced at the last minute, lots of people tuned in and watched it live on TV. The numbers are even higher watching online. There was large web traffic last night all across Japan, causing it to shut off for half an hour."

He shook his head and smiled proudly. "Only you can cause such a commotion, Li Syaoran."

"Some of your fans expressed outrage and hatred towards your new 'it' girl. But for the majority, they accepted Sakura and wished that the two of you would have a happy ending. Sakura's amazing. She's captured the hearts of almost all of your fans because they like the fact that she's different from your other tabloid female leads."

"Everything is going as planned, but now Sakura has to face the other female celebrities who have interest in me," Syaoran said arrogantly.

Eriol's smile widened as he held up the newspaper for Syaoran to see. "It was pretty outrageous."

On the front cover was the picture of Syaoran fake-kissing Sakura. Just like he thought by reading the title, the public bought into it. _Playboy Ready to Commit? It seems like it!_

"It reads," Eriol said, "The famous playboy, Li Syaoran, who has the most appearance on any tabloid magazine cover with a different girl each time is finally ready to settle down? This question has been circulating around the country and the World Wide Web ever since Li held a conference yesterday, announcing his relationship with Kinomoto Sakura. So, is he ready to commit? We think so! From our insiders on Li Syaoran's new film set, he told us that Li discreetly asked the director for a two-day break. Everyone on set was extremely curious about this because they, and almost everyone in this country, knew Li was a very serious and responsible person at work who never took a day off, even if he was extremely sick. As it turned out, Li took a 2-day off so he could visit his girlfriend's grandparents in Yokohama with his girlfriend, who had already left for Yokohama that morning. Sources in Yokohama told us that they saw Li and Kinomoto leaving her grandparents' residence the morning before the press conference. It was assumed that the two of them drove back to Tokyo together and then held the conference later in the afternoon. From the break to the conference, there is already enough proof that Li and his new girlfriend are already at a very developed stage in their relationship, and Li is treating the girl differently than the other girls he had dated. The fact that he signed the contract with Daidouji Inc., a small fashion company owned by Kinomoto's best friend, also provides evident that he is serious towards this relationship. As a huge star, he would have never signed with a small company, but now he has, all because of the opportunity to collaborate with his girlfriend. No matter what happens, we look forward to their collaboration at Daidouji Inc's first fashion show at the end of this month and we hope to see the two of them live happily ever after, like our modern fairytale's prince and princess."

Syaoran was very satisfied with the report, especially since it was published in _Ochos _which was a very influential and nationally well-known newspaper company. So, it was guaranteed that everywhere in the country today, people would get the message.

"All thanks to you, Eriol. If you hadn't told me to take the break and bring Sakura back from Yokohama myself, things wouldn't have gone so well," he thanked his best friend.

On the day when Eriol went to visit Syaoran and told him Sakura's whereabouts, he told him to use the chance to further promote his committed image, including going to Yokohama to pick up Sakura and host the press conference.

Syaoran was impressed by Eriol's planning, but he completely misunderstood Eriol's intentions. "Don't get me wrong. I was trying to save Sakura's impression on you."

Syaoran smirked. "Yea, yea, boss. Everyone knows how smart you are at these things. You don't need to be modest."

Eriol rolled his eyes. Obviously, Syaoran knew his true intention, but he just wasn't admitting it.

Even though Eriol acknowledged Syaoran's reason, he left it unsaid. He smiled approvingly and said, "Fumioko already told me that you have no scenes tomorrow morning, so we're meeting Tomoyo and Sakura at the company to discuss the working schedule for the upcoming fashion show."

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **OKAY! Now you get to know a little bit more about Sakura's family background and her feelings towards her amnesia (Touya is the same as usual, always so protective and unreasonable ; p ). Is Syaoran becoming suspicious? Why? In the review, tell me what you think about Sakura's family background. Or, you could tell me what you would like to see in the upcoming fashion show! Or, just simply your comments on the story.

I really enjoyed reading your reviews from last chapter. I hope to read more about your thoughts on the story. Remember to review! They motivate me to keep on writing!

Anyways, you could always check my blog to see any updates on the story. . If the link doesn't work here, go to my profile page and click on homepage.


	9. Chapter 9

**Valkyrie85: **I am extremely sorry for the huge delay! I thought I was able to finish this chapter earlier, but there was too much work in school for me to write the story. In fact, I am actually supposed to be studying for a few tests and quizzes tomorrow...Anyways, thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and for adding my story to your lists! I hope you will leave another review for this chapter ; )

**Chapter 9**

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Tomoyo asked Sakura softly. They were on their way to Tomoyo's company for the first rehearsal of the week before the fashion show.

"I'll live," Sakura replied simply.

She woke up in the morning feeling dizzy and painful in the head. The uncharacteristically cool and cloudy weather outside contributed to her discomfort even more.

"I might be getting my period soon because I always feel like this when I'm about to get it. The rain always makes it worse," Sakura added.

Tomoyo looked at her friend in understanding. Although she got cramps instead of headaches when she had her period, she could still understand her friend's situation.

"Are you sure you will be okay working, today?" Tomoyo asked for the fifth time since the morning she found out about Sakura's sickness.

"Of course, Tomoyo. I have to live through this every single month. I can't avoid everything whenever I have my period, especially not today. Your models might gossip about my absence."

Tomoyo nodded. She let go of persuading her friend. "Just don't push yourself too much today. If you can't handle it, please go home."

"I hope the models won't make a huge fuss about Syaoran like his insane fans do," Sakura prayed. On a day like this, her tolerance for screams and huge commotion wasn't too well, and her temper wasn't easy to control, either.

"Don't worry about that. They are aspiring models and will treasure this valuable working experience with a supermodel like Syaoran. The fans and reporters won't cause problems either because they don't know about the exact fashion show date or the rehearsal schedule for this week," Tomoyo said.

Sakura gave her friend a warm smile. "Sorry, Tomoyo. Other new designers do so much just to get their name out there and now, you are keeping the media from coming because of me." Tomoyo was always so caring and what she'd done for her made her feel even more convinced that the deal she had signed with Syaoran was worth it. In fact, if he asked her to fake-marry him, she would happily comply as long as it was beneficial to her best friend.

"I love you too much to use you like that, Sakura," Tomoyo said jokingly, but sincerely.

Sakura grinned, an expression she would have never shown to anyone else other than the ones she loved.

They were too engaged in their conversation that they didn't even realize the car stopping. "Miss Daidouji, there are many reporters and fans outside waiting. Would you like me to drive you back here after the security guards arrive to take care of this mess?" the middle-aged driver from the front turned around and asked.

Surprise covered Tomoyo and Sakura's faces at what they saw through the tinted windows from afar. There was a crowd of reporters standing and sitting on the front steps of Tomoyo's company, holding all types of recordable electronics and microphones. On the side stood a line of fans, holding up posters of Syaoran.

"How did the rehearsal schedule leak?" Tomoyo asked confusedly. "They're not supposed to know!"

Sakura placed a hand on Tomoyo's shoulder. "Calm down," she replied calmly. "We don't have enough time to come back again. You need to go in and set up your presentation. Your models are arriving in 45 minutes."

"We can't just walk in unprotected Sakura. That's a huge crowd out there. And the fans don't look very friendly, either," Tomoyo warned.

"It's okay, Tomoyo. I can handle this. It's illegal for them to be on your property if it's against your will. Ray, please drive up to the company."

The driver followed Sakura's order and made a turn to the company's front parking lot. There were already a few cars parked there, meaning some of her staff already arrived but were too overwhelmed by the press to react in response.

The minute the car arrived, all the paparazzi and fans rushed towards it. Sakura got out from the other side of the car, followed by Tomoyo. After stepping out of the car, Sakura immediately felt her world spin.

"It's Kinomoto Sakura!" some of them screamed.

Sakura frowned and put her purple hood on as she grabbed Tomoyo's wrist and pushed their way through the crowd. Above all of their questions were Syaoran's protesting fans.

"How do you feel about working with Syaoran in this project?"

"You haven't had any type of training in modelling. Do you think you can take on the challenge as the main model for Daidouji Tomoyo's fashion show?"

_GIVE SYAORAN BACK!_

"Have you met Syaoran's parents? What do you think they will feel about you dating the heir of Li Corporations?"

Sakura ignored their very personal questions. It was starting to piss her off that they knew so much personal information about her. Only small steps were taken at a time because the paparazzi kept on blocking her way.

BREAK UP WITH SYAORAN!

"From our sources, you are a medical intern at Tokyo General Hospital. Will this modelling job affect your performance at the hospital in July?"

Questions weren't just directed to Sakura. Some were pushing answers out of Tomoyo, as well.

"Miss Daidouji. Is it correct that your mother, Daidouji Sonomi, the Daidouji Coporations, was the main investor in your show?"

GIVE SYAORAN BACK!

"How did you get Syaoran to model for you?"

"You also have Dowlin Rena under your contract. How do you feel about having these two famous models modelling for your new company?"

BREAK UP SYAORAN!

Sakura was finally fed up with the questions and the ridiculous protesting. They were invading her and Tomoyo's privacy. It wasn't acceptable. She suddenly stopped in midst of everything resulting in stumbles and trips all around her. Even Tomoyo bumped into her.

For a few short seconds, it was quiet. All Sakura could hear was her own heart beat pounding hard against her rib cage. All she could feel was her world spinning more furiously than before.

"I will not answer any questions outside of press conference. Please leave this area immediately or I will call the police," she yelled above all the other voices. "And all of Syaoran's fans, please just go back to school. Your protests are ridiculous and a waste of time."

After that, she felt a strong body pressed behind her, like a wall she felt safe to lean on. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter to the wall-like body.

Other than the body, she couldn't remember anything more as things happened swiftly in a blur. The next thing she knew, large men dressed in black appeared in front of Sakura's eyes and blocked the reporters from her and she was safely escorted inside the company.

* * *

Sakura looked at the person standing face-to-face in front of her. It was Syaoran, with an amused smirk on his face but eyes that had a hint of worry.

"When did you come?" Sakura asked, astonished.

"I was the one who saved you outside, love. You don't even remember," Syaoran replied, acting offended.

"Uh. Thank you," Sakura said awkwardly. _So it was him._

Syaoran handed her his cup of coffee from Starbucks. "Here, this might make you feel better. I haven't drunk it."

Sakura took the cup without hesitation. She really needed caffeine to help her maintain stable for the rest of the day. Why couldn't she have thought this earlier this morning? "Thank you. Where's Tomoyo?" She looked around the empty waiting area, where the receptionist was still absent.

"She went inside with Hikari to discuss some things before the presentation."

"Speaking of presentation, you are actually early today, for once," Sakura said checking the clock above the receptionist's counter.

"You don't know me too well. I always arrive early for work." Sakura gave him a funny look.

"And when I arrived today, guess what I found? My girlfriend trying to walk through a bunch of blood-thirsty reporters all by herself," he continued.

"How did they know our schedule?" Sakura asked suddenly furious.

"That, is not my doing." Syaoran defended himself and held up his hands.

"I wasn't accusing you," Sakura said. "Do you know who it might be?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Usually situations like that, we can't find the person because there are too many suspects to begin with."

Sakura stayed quiet and considered his words. Then, she looked up when she felt him move closer towards her. "Next time in a situation like that, just stay inside the car until you have protection," he told her while pulling down her hood slowly for her.

"I—"

"Oh my God!" someone standing behind Syaoran exclaimed excitedly. Both of them thought it was one of the fans who got her way into the company. Sakura felt Syaoran's body tense up.

"Hi Syaoran!" A pretty girl, slightly taller than Sakura, with shoulder-length straight black hair, approached Sakura and Syaoran. Her hand was covered over her mouth in disbelief, eyes wide in surprise.

Syaoran's hands dropped to his sides and greeted the girl politely, "Good morning."

"I'm Dowlin Rena, the winner of this year's Proto Modelling Contest. You were one of the judges. Do you remember me?" the girl introduced herself with an expectant smile.

Syaoran recalled being a judge at the regional contest, but the girl…

"You were the one who fell off of the runway…" Syaoran said uncertainly, more to himself.

The girl blushed a bright pink. "Yes. It was quite embarrassing. I was already very nervous but then when I saw you were one of the judges on the panel, I instantly blanked out and then tripped on my own foot! I didn't think I was going to win after that fall, but then I did! It's all thanks to your presence. And! If you weren't there to catch me I could have lost my legs!" Rena exclaimed without taking a breath.

Syaoran remembered that on the next day, he was on the headlines with her all over the country.

Sakura listened amusedly at Rena's conversation with Syaoran. Tomoyo had told her about Rena but she had never seen her personally. From what she heard, Rena was an uprising 21 year-old model who hadn't signed a contract with any company. 2 weeks ago, before the Syaoran's endorsement news was out, she personally called Tomoyo and asked if Tomoyo accepted any models. It was still a wonder why she wanted to model for Tomoyo, instead of a big name brand.

She even agreed to a pay that was less than what she would have gotten if she had modeled for another company. It was a huge lift off of Tomoyo's shoulders, considering her limited budget on hiring models after spending most of it on Syaoran.

"…Ever since then I became a huge fan of yours and consider you my lucky charm. Now, we are working for the same designer! I am too lucky!" Rena continued, not even realizing that Syaoran was paying half attention.

Sakura took a sip of her coffee beside Syaoran as he looked at her with the corner of his eye.

"Oh?" Rena stopped talking and turned to Sakura, noticing her for the first time. "Is this your assistant, Syaoran?"

Syaoran smiled and shook his head, "She's my girlfriend, Sakura." He put a hand on Sakura's head and winked secretly at her.

Sakura noticed Rena's face falter for one short second before it returned to the old excitement. "Wow, the two of you look so good together! You two even dress similarly!"

Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and then looked at Rena. The two of them were both wearing sweatpants, hers black, his gray and baggy. She wore a purple hoodie on top while he wore a simple black v-neck.

Rena, on the other hand, wore skinny jeans tucked in brown high heel boots, looking professional.

"That was unintentional," Sakura replied. She checked her cell phone and then said to Syaoran and Rena, "I need to go find Tomoyo, now. I'll see you two in a bit." With that, she left for the CEO's office. When she approached the door, she found it half-closed.

"…I understand, but if they are on set with us a lot of people will feel uncomfortable," she heard Tomoyo's voice say pressingly.

"I respect your decision to not allow any reporters around during rehearsals, but all anyone wants to know these days is Sakura and Syaoran's relationship, and they want to see them together. If they come on set at the photo shoot, they can film them. It will be better for you as well," Hikari's voice sounded convincingly.

"But…Sakura won't be comfortable having cameras following her all day…" Tomoyo replied hesitantly.

On the other side of the door, Sakura understood what their conversation was about. Some news company wanted to be on set for the photo shoot, filming her and Syaoran's every move. And apparently, Hikari was rejected once by Tomoyo already when she asked her for permission to have the cameras around during runway rehearsals.

She wondered if Syaoran knew anything about this.

Sakura decided that she didn't care if cameras followed her around. If that was a way to promote Tomoyo's company, she was willing to do it. She pushed open the door and entered, ignoring the surprise on Tomoyo's face, though not so much on Hikari's.

"Let them come, Tomoyo. It's okay. I'll be fine," she told Tomoyo as she walked over to the table where the two other women were seated.

"Sakura…"

"Hikari, it's not too late right?" Sakura turned and asked Hikari.

She shook her head with a smile on her face. "They will be all too willing to discuss this matter and are willing to pay a good price."

"Well, that's excellent," Sakura replied, as if she were the one who made the decisions. "What if we ask them to pay for the hotel fees for the models in Yokohama? Is that asking too much from them?"

Hikari's eyes widened a bit. "Of course it's not! This is a marvellous idea. Letting them pay for the hotel fees is much less than what they are willing to offer, but hey will happily comply."

Sakura nodded and turned to Tomoyo. "How does this sound to you, Tomoyo? Now the hotel problem is solved."

Tomoyo sighed. "Well, I can't make you change your mind even if I say no. "

"Well, that's excellent. I will make the phone call right now," Hikari said and got up from her chair. She left the room, leaving the door slightly shut.

"This will just provoke your brother even more if he watches the clips online again, you know?" Tomoyo said, looking at the door.

Sakura shrugged. "Other than the phone call he hasn't done anything else. Although it's surprising, I don't think he will do anything this time."

She was starting to feel dizzy again as she took a sip of the coffee.

"I'm in shock. Did you read the papers this morning? It says Kinomoto Corporations and Li Corporations officially signed the multi-billion dollar deal yesterday night. Knowing Touya, I thought he was going to cancel the deal because of you and Syaoran, but in the end he signed it. I wonder what he's planning on doing," Tomoyo said.

"Whatever t is, it won't affect me now," Sakura replied squarely.

Inside, Sakura was wondering what her brother was planning, as well, though she didn't want to tell Tomoyo that. She was actually a little bit scared.

When the intercom in Tomoyo's office announced that the models have all arrived, Tomoyo and Sakura headed out to the company's meeting room.

When they entered, the room was packed with tall models, either sitting around the meeting table or leaning against the walls around the small meeting room.

"Sakura!" Rena, sitting beside Syaoran in the second and third seat of the table, waved her hand at her. Most of the eyes in the room turned to look at Sakura.

Sakura smiled at the other models, who politely did the same.

"We saved a seat for you!" Rena told Sakura in her excited tone. She pointed at the seat beside her. On the way, she eyed Syaoran, who was talking to a middle-aged man with a moustache.

"Oh, sorry. Did you want to sit beside Syaoran?" Rena asked, misunderstanding Sakura.

"No, anywhere is fine. Thank you for saving me the seat," Sakura replied with a smile.

Seated beside her was a male model with shoulder-length black hair. "Hi," Sakura greeted him.

The model looked at her and grinned, extending his hand. "Hey, I'm Eiji." Sakura shook his hand.

"I'm—"

"You're Kinomoto Sakura, right?" Eiji asked knowingly.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Everyone knows about you and Li Syaoran. Your face is plastered on every single magazine and newspaper!"

Sakura nodded. "Right. " Before she met Syaoran, she was just an average human being, overwhelmed by the Hollywood celebrities she saw on the streets of Manhattan and on the front pages of famous tabloid magazines. Now, she was part of them.

"We all look forward to working with you and Syaoran," he said. A few other models, who Sakura didn't realize were paying attention, nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. Although, I must say I'm a newbie in modelling, so please don't laugh at my lack of experience," Sakura said honestly. The others laughed.

"We all are newbies compared to Li Syaoran and Dowlin Rena! We can all worry together," a female model with a very short bob added from across the table. Rena, oblivious to their comments, was engaged in a conversation with Syaoran and the man.

"That's right. We can all embarrass ourselves together," another female model, standing behind Eiji joined in.

Sakura smiled inwardly. She could tell that this week together with them would be fun. The models weren't like the beastly fans and reporters outside, obsessed over Li Syaoran. They were simply ambitious models who looked up to Syaoran in a professional way.

Sakura relaxed a bit at hearing their words. Before today, she was quite worried that she might do a bad job on the runway and ruin Tomoyo's reputation.

"Good morning everyone," Tomoyo spoke at the front of the room. The lights were turned off, leaving projector the only source of light. Everyone in the room silenced for the presentation to begin.

"I hope that you have used that time well to get acquainted to your colleagues. There were a few small changes in your schedule so I will use this time to go over it today. We only have about less than 5 days of practice and fitting before the day of the show on Friday. Today will just be a half-day runway rehearsal in the company. Tomorrow, rehearsals will continue at the Tokyo Arts Centre where the actual fashion show will take place."

"In the afternoon on the same day, we will depart for Yokohama for the photo shoot on Wednesday…"

Whispers began to exchange in the room at the announcement.

"Before, the photo shoot was scheduled for after the fashion show, which only Sakura and Syaoran will be involved. However, we have decided to bring you all to the photo shoot so that you aspiring models can gain more experience in the modelling field, and not to mention, with the famous Li Syaoran."

The room erupted into excited whispers.

Tomoyo smiled at their reaction. "Please bring your luggage tomorrow to work, and in the afternoon, we will leave from the Arts centre. There will be a tour bus provided as transportation. And when we arrive in Yokohama, we will be staying in a hotel until Wednesday morning. The photo shoot will take a full day. On Thursday morning, we will come back to Tokyo and do fittings. Friday morning will be a last rehearsal before the show on that night."

"I understand that the schedule is very packed, but we have to work hard nevertheless!"

"Now, I would like to introduce to you our stage director and photographer, Kase Shinichi, who is very well-known in Asia and has worked with other famous supermodels like Saota Josline, Nicarashi Lena, and of course, our Li Syaoran . He will be working with you for the next few days. It will be valuable experience for you."

The man who Syaoran was talking to stood up, the grim expression never leaving his face. He looked around the room before introducing himself.

"It's nice to meet you all. I consider myself lucky to have another opportunity to work with Syaoran, although I never thought the opportunity would have been given by Tomoyo. At first, I didn't want to accept her offer but after seeing Tomoyo's designs, I'm glad to say that I made a right choice. I believe that her talents were also recognized by Syaoran. That is why he decided to model for her. You may not believe me now, but once you have seen the clothes on Wednesday, you will believe my every word."

The models exchanged looks and stole glimpses at Syaoran, who had a half-crooked smile on his face.

Sakura also looked at Syaoran. She was happy that Kase complimented on her friend's designs. Although she had always thought her friend was talented but she wasn't sure if what she thought was good was good enough for the other experts.

Kase's comments made her think back to the time when Syaoran met up with her at the café. On that day when he had asked her to be his fake girlfriend, he had said that the reason he was signing the contract with Daidouji Inc. was because he thought there was potential in Tomoyo. Sakura didn't believe him back then because he seemed like he had an ulterior motive. Now, that suspicious side of her was slowly becoming smaller, but that didn't mean she was buying into his original motive either.

Syaoran noticed her staring at him. He showed her a proud, "I told you," look.

She couldn't help but mouthed "Thank you," back to him. Before turning her attention back to Kase, she noticed Rena rolling her eyes.

In the front, Kase sat down and Tomoyo go up. "I know a lot of you were surprised when you entered the room to find Li Syaoran sitting in here. Please don't be intimidated by his fame. He started off as a model just like you and worked his way up to what he is today. If you have any questions regarding modelling, please just go up to him and ask."

Syaoran rose from his seat with a friendly smile on his face. "Good morning. Like what Miss Daidouji said, if you have any questions or need clarifications, please don't hesitate to ask me or Miss Dowlin. For those who don't know, she's the winner of this year's Proto Modelling Contest. I look forward to working with you all." Then, he sat back down. Rena smiled at Syaoran and waved to the models in the room.

* * *

When the presentation was over, all the models were instructed to follow Kase to the rehearsal room. It was a huge room with large glass windows facing the front of the company and was covered in two sides of mirrors.

"I hate the rain," Eiji complained when he saw it was raining outside.

"Me too. It always gives me headaches," Sakura agreed.

"Sakura?" the girl who had bob cut, named Akira, asked. "Are they close friends?"

She looked in Syaoran and Rena's way. Sakura followed her gaze. The two of them were standing closely together, talking to a group of other models.

Sakura shrugged. "Syaoran was one of the judges at the contest. Apparently, she fell and he caught her."

"I sense something weird from her. She's attached herself to Syaoran ever since the beginning of the presentation. You need to be careful because Syaoran might get stolen away," Akira warned.

Sakura nodded. She could not act like she didn't care because no one else knew about the truth behind her relationship with Syaoran, and she didn't want to be mean.

Kase clapped his hands twice in order to quiet down the models. "The plan is to have all 20 of you split up into partners. I haven't got the list today, so please just choose a random partner of the opposite sex for today's practice."

Everyone scattered around, making groups of two.

"Can we be partners, Syaoran, or do you want to have Sakura instead?" Rena asked Syaoran.

Syaoran spotted Sakura, already standing beside the guy who sat beside her during the presentation. "No, it's fine," he replied solemnly.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **Thank you for reading! I hope the chapter wasn't too rushed. I feel like I didn't put enough details in this chapter as what I would usually have done. Regardless, we see the plot developing a bit and a new character appears. Whether the character is good or bad, we still don't know yet ; p Also, we learn a bit more about Sakura's family. The next chapter is the photo shoot in Yokohama! ;D Let' see how it will play out! It will come out in three weeks. At least, that's what I'l hoping.

Remember to **REVIEW!** Maybe the more reviews I get, the faster I will update ; )


	10. Chapter 10

**Val85: **Well, hello everyone! I know you're extremely excited about this update, but before you go on reading the chapter, please give me one minute to properly apologize to you. Although I did not say for sure that I was going to update this story 3 weeks after the last chapter, I would still like to apologize for this delay. The reason is because, quite simply, I no longer have that much time to write this story due to school work and other activities (recently, I've been staying after school everyday until 6 or 7 to practice for my upcoming audition, with my group members). Please don't worry about me not finishing this story! No matter how long each update will take, I plan on finishing it. Before I wrap this note up, I would like to thank each and every one of you who either reviewed or added me to their alert list! Your continuous support is and will always be my number 1 motivation ; )

**Chapter 10**

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the Tokyo Arts Center with her luggage on Tuesday morning, the T-shaped runway was already set up in the large gallery room.

Tomoyo's staff was moving about. Some were removing paintings from the wall and others covering the walls with pink, cherry blossom wall paper.

In a corner, Tomoyo was discussing with Kase about the details of the show.

The models, scattered around the room, were chatting with each other. When they saw Sakura, they smiled and greeted her.

"Now, you come!" Akira, looking impatient, walked over to Sakura, her short bob bouncing slightly, and said.

Sakura looked at her confusedly. "Am I late?"

"If you mean for work, no. But it's definitely a yes that your boyfriend has being stolen away by that Rena girl."

Sakura exhaled loudly and shook her head, realizing that they were going over the same topic again. "Akira, Akira. Rena just looks up to Syaoran for advice and guidance. The others here do too, so why don't you suspect them?"

"So in your opinion, by isolating herself from the others and staying in his dressing room with him is part of receiving guidance?" Akira asked.

Akira's question threw Sakura off a little. _They're in the dressing room…alone…_

Sakura picked up her luggage from the floor and was about to leave.

"So now you understand the situation," Akira said, hopefully.

"I'm just going to drop this off in Syaoran's dressing room. Even if it's for that reason, I'm doing it to calm more of your insecurities than mine," Sakura told her.

Akira sighed loudly. "Sakura, I've had enough experience to know that Rena's trouble. I was just like you, didn't care at all when I saw my ex-best friend hanging out with my ex-boyfriend. I thought that she was helping me by making him feel closer to my circle of friends. But the next thing I found out was that she was pregnant with his child."

Sakura looked at her brave friend, who was 2 years older, sadly, "I'm—"

"Don't say 'you're sorry to hear that.' If you feel for me, do me a favour and save your relationship before it's too late because I don't want to see something like that happen again."

"Do something before it's too late!" Akira called out as Sakura was leaving the room.

The reason why Sakura even bothered checking up on Syaoran, like what Akira told her to do, was so that Akira didn't regard her as an ignorant person. She also didn't want anyone to suspect the relationship.

At least, that was what she thought.

However, after Sakura entered the dressing room, she felt some sort of relief when she saw Syaoran was the only one in the room, concentrated in a thick novel on the couch by himself, with his IPod on.

"Hello, my love," Syaoran greeted, taking his headphones off when he saw her.

Sakura approached him. "Where's Rena?"

Syaoran studied her for a few seconds before smirking. "Did you come here to check up on me?"

"Of course not. I wanted to leave this here before we leave and along the way, to tell you two that the rehearsal is about to start. But, she's not here…" she replied squarely, showing him her handbag.

Syaoran put down his book. "She left a few minutes ago for the washroom. Give me your bag. I'll go put it in my car."

"Why?"

"Because I have the keys. Or, do you want to take it out yourself?" He asked, taking his car keys out of his pocket.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I mean why are you bringing it to your car when I'm going on the bus with the rest of the group?"

Syaoran grinned. "Because we're going to your grandparents' house for dinner and it's a different route from the hotel we're staying at."

Sakura showed a confused look. "When was that planned?"

"Your grandma called me last night and asked if we could stay there for dinner and for the night. She was a bit disappointed when I said we could only eat dinner because of the photo shoot tomorrow."

Sakura's eyebrow rose. "Why couldn't she have called me, instead? She's _my_ grandma, you know."

"Would you have agreed to go?"

"…No."

"So, that's why," Syaoran proved. He got up from his seat, leaving his book on the couch, and walked towards her.

Then, he wrapped his hand around her hand that held the bag.

Slowly, he leaned closer to her. And within a quick movement, he tucked some hair behind her ear.

Sakura's breathing stopped at that moment.

"Your perfume smells good," he whispered into her ears before taking the bag out of her hand and left for his car.

It was after he had left that she felt the increase in her body temperature and the fast pounding of her heart.

"What is wrong with me?" she asked herself weakly. She brought a hand up to her forehead and checked the temperature.

* * *

The practice started. Everyone was assigned to a partner of the opposite sex, based on a list created by Tomoyo and her employees.

Sakura was naturally assigned to Syaoran, and that was well received by the other models. Sakura noticed that even Rena didn't complain or showed any sign of disapproval. This was enough proof to tell herself that Rena wasn't the type of person to steal other people's boyfriends.

Anyways, even if she did Sakura wouldn't have minded. However, it was part of the deal that she had to act like she did.

In haute couture fashion shows, the best of the models always made their entrance last, in order to add more appeal and build anticipation. As a result, Syaoran and Sakura were assigned to the last entrance. When it was finally their turn to practice on the runway, Syaoran brought out his hand and Sakura hesitantly held onto it. The two of them walked down the runway professionally, holding hands.

"Excellent, Syaoran and Sakura. You two need to show dominance of the show, and at the same time, you have to show that you're in love."

As a part of the fashion show 'story plot,' the partners had to interact with each other through their bodies while walking on the runway, as if they are going on a date. It was based on Tomoyo's themed collection, Premier Amor.

Her new collection was especially designed for those who were in their twenties and were out in search for the love of their life. The clothes emitted a sense of high-fashion but at the same time, simplicity.

On their way back, Syaoran released her hand and wrapped it around Sakura's waist.

Kase, standing on the bottom of the runway, smiled approvingly. "You've created the next runway golden couple, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo nodded as she watched the backs of Syaoran and Sakura. "They've got this aura around them that compliment each other."

Kase agreed. "And the powerful energy they emit is so strong. Kinomoto Sakura has the potential to be a great model, perhaps even a super model…"

Tomoyo's eyes widened. Kase was famously-known for his talent-seeking abilities in Asia. If he said that Sakura had the potential, it was absolutely big news. "She inherited the talent."

Kase turned to look at her. Tomoyo looked on, even though she knew Kase was waiting for an explanation. _She inherited them from her mother._

When Sakura and Syaoran made their way into the backstage, Sakura quickly pulled herself out of Syaoran's embrace.

However, Syaoran returned the arm onto her shoulders when Rena appeared. "You two looked so good together on the runway!"

Sakura shot him a look before replying to Rena. "It wasn't as frightening as I thought it would have been."

"Why would it be frightening when you have me beside you?" Syaoran cut in.

Sakura rolled her eyes at his comment. "Shall we go for lunch now?" she asked Rena with a smile.

Rena excitedly nodded, her sleek long hair brushing over her shoulders. "Let's go!" she said as she linked through Sakura's arm.

At that moment, Syaoran's arm dropped and reached into his pocket for took out his phone. "You two go without me," he said, looking at his phone.

"Why, Syaoran?" Rena asked, disappointedly. Sakura also looked at Syaoran.

"My boss just emailed me to go back and take care of something," Syaoran explained.

"Don't miss me too much, Sakura," he said and winked at Sakura.

With that, he left for the parking lot.

"How sweet." Akira came up from behind. She looked at Rena with a smirk and then turned to Sakura. "I'll keep you occupied during lunch, so you don't miss him too much."

Sakura gave her a sidelong look. "I—"

She stopped when she saw Rena checking her watch, anxiously. "Is something wrong, Rena?"

Rena looked up, nervously. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I forgot that I have a lunch meeting today with my manager, so I can't eat lunch with you!" Her pretty face was apologetic.

Sakura smiled. "It's alright, just go. We have plenty of other opportunities."

"I'm so sorry," Rena apologized again. Sakura smiled and waved her off. "Don't worry about it! Go before you're late!"

Rena turned around and ran towards the door.

"I always wonder why she didn't compete in an acting competition instead," Akira commented beside Sakura, watching the door close.

Sakura sighed and turned to her. "Why do you always think the worst of her?"

"Wasn't that obvious? The minute Syaoran left, she left too. Obviously, she only wanted to eat lunch with us because Syaoran was going, as well."

Sakura thought about her words. No matter what Akira said, she couldn't imagine Rena being the type of person Akira described her to be.

"…she's only 20 with little experience in this industry, yet she has already mastered acting techniques that are better than the legendary actors."

"Let's go," Sakura interrupted. "The others are already waiting for us outside."

Finally, Akira dropped the subject as the two of them headed out the door.

* * *

"No, I can't. I have to get the models settled in their hotel rooms and prepare for tomorrow's photo shoot," Tomoyo replied apologetically to Sakura.

Sakura and Tomoyo were on their way walking back to Daidouji Inc., after they spent half of their lunch time at a noodle place near Daidouji Inc.

"I guess I'll just go with Syaoran, then," Sakura said unwillingly.

The two of them had to return to the company earlier to set up the stage with Tomoyo's staff.

"Don't be so unhappy. It proves that your grandparents approve of Syaoran to an extent that they make plans with him that don't even have to be passed by you," Tomoyo said. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I hope you're wrong. If my grandma and him work together, you don't know how crazy the plans can get."

Tomoyo giggled. "Syaoran's cute. His personality and yours are so similar that it's quite amazing."

Sakura's eyebrow rose. "Similar? In what way? He says and does the most ridiculous things you can ever imagine!"

Tomoyo giggled some more. "You might not see it, but I do. They say opposites attract. But, in reality, the two people are so different that they're almost the same. That's why they attract."

Sakura stopped walking and turned to look at her friend with a funny look. "Tomoyo, are you alright?"

"Of course, Sakura. But, what I'm really trying to say is that you and Syaoran are meant to be and should be together for the rest of your lives. He's a really good man," Tomoyo told her wisely.

Sakura couldn't look at Tomoyo any longer. She quickly turned away as a rush of guilt washed over her. Even though the whole fake-relationship deal was done to Tomoyo's advantage, Sakura still felt very guilty for lying to her.

Her and Syaoran's acting even misled Tomoyo to believe that they were suitable for each other.

"Why is Rena with Syaoran…?" Tomoyo asked while Sakura was still thinking about her guiltiness.

"Wh—"

When Sakura followed Tomoyo's gaze, she spotted Rena coming out of Syaoran's black Porsche, which was parked in Daidouji Inc.'s parking lot.

Soon after, Syaoran also came out from the driver's side.

Sakura felt Tomoyo's stare, but she ignored it and continued walking back to the company.

"I'm sorry that you had to wait for so long," Sakura heard Syaoran say to Rena as she approached them.

"No problem. I had nothing to do anyways," Rena beamed.

"You didn't eat at all. Are you going to be okay—"

Syaoran stopped walking when she saw Sakura and Tomoyo walking towards him. Rena, who was following behind, bumped lightly into him.

"Hey," he said to Sakura with a grin. "You missed me so much that you even came out to welcome me back?"

Sakura looked at him coldly and replied, "I just came back from lunch."

Sensing something wrong from Sakura, he quickly looked at Tomoyo. In return, she shook her head and hinted him with her eyes.

She moved her eyes back and forth between Rena and him. Before long, Syaoran figured it out.

"Where did you guys come from?" Tomoyo asked Rena and Syaoran, curiously. Rena beat Syaoran at it and replied with a smile, "We just came back from Syaoran's company."

Sakura looked at Rena. "I thought you were going to eat lunch with your manager?"

The tone of voice Sakura used sounded colder to Syaoran than what he was already used to.

"I was," Rena replied sweetly. "The address of the restaurant he told me was coincidentally right next to Syaoran's company so he offered to give me a ride. When we were almost there, he emailed and said that he couldn't come. I didn't know what to do so I waited for Syaoran to finish his business before coming back with him."

Tomoyo's eyes narrowed, while Sakura remained emotionless. "I see. Why don't the two of you go get something to eat before the afternoon practice starts?" she suggested.

Rena nodded in agreement. "Yes we should, shouldn't we, Syaoran? Sakura's so caring!"

Syaoran moved away from Rena when she was about to grab his lower arm. "I'm fine. If you're hungry, then go buy some food Rena. I need to get ready for the afternoon practice."

With that, he began walking into the company, followed by Sakura and Tomoyo. Tomoyo, lagging behind, turned and looked at a glaring Rena before heading into the company with the couple.

* * *

In the afternoon practice, Sakura continued to treat Syaoran coldly, despite his attempts to piss her off.

This method no longer worked on Sakura like it used to when they first met.

At one point, she escaped to the washroom. When the inside of the washroom was completely isolated from the other side after the door closed, she heard a familiar voice speaking harshly in one of the stalls.

"He doesn't fuckin' give a damn about me. The Sakura girl keeps on getting in my way!"

…

"I tried to act nice but it has lost its advantages!"

…

"Yeah, sure I got close to him. Sure. But I can't do anything more if that girl's here!"

…

"Why the fuck would I still believe you?"

…

"Yes, I want Syaoran and I want fame."

…

The phone call ended and the speaker flushed the toilet before opening the door of the washroom stall.

Surprise appeared on Rena's flushed face, her usual sleek and glossy hair messy, when she saw Sakura looking back at her through the mirror, though not so much Sakura's.

Sakura calmly asked, without turning around, "Who are you?"

Rena smiled slyly. Her heels clicked loudly as she walked towards the mirror and began fixing her hair with her hands.

"You heard the conversation, didn't you?" Her usually sweet and innocent voice was filled with arrogance and annoyance. "There's no point in acting, anymore. I want your boyfriend, Li Syaoran. And if you get in my way, I will stop at nothing to destroy you."

* * *

**Valkyrie85:**PHEW! Guess what time is it now? 4:06 AM! Why did I stay up so late (or early, I should say), you ask? Well, I didn't want you guys to be left hanging on the last chapter for so long, so I decided to pull an all-nighter and get this chapter finished. After editing this chapter three times, I'm starting to get worried because the story's becoming crappier and crappier (excuse my language)... ; (

Anyways, despite my pessimism, what did you think about this chapter, Dowlin Rena, or anything else that interested you? I hope to see lots of reviews ; ) Thanks for reading!

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! ;D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Valkyrie85: **All I can say is WOW! I still can't believe that I received so many reviews for the last chapter! Thank you guys so much! I love you all! I'm sorry that this chapter took so long...a lot of things have happened during the last two months, like vacation, new years, and exams. I wanted to update on the first day of January as a New Years gift to you all, but I was inable to finish it D: Well, here it is. I guess that's all it matters, for now.

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Rena smiled slyly. Her heels clicked loudly as she walked towards the mirror and began fixing her hair with her hands.

"You heard the conversation, didn't you?" Her usually sweet and innocent voice was filled with annoyance. "There's no point in acting, anymore. I want your boyfriend, Li Syaoran. And if you get in my way, I will stop at nothing to destroy you."

Her face turned to Sakura, expression arrogant. She stared into her eyes as if she were looking down upon her, as if Sakura should be threatened by her existence.

However, Sakura wasn't the least bit affected. Despite the slight difference between their heights, there wasn't anything else in Sakura's eyes that made Rena better than her. Call her arrogant, but that's how she lived. In order to achieve success, she had to first believe that she was the best.

"Thank you for letting me know," Sakura said to her calmly, reflecting her emotions inside. "But you have no control over what I do nor do I have control over yours."

Rena's face soured. "Keep on acting tough. Once your boyfriend is mine, you'll regret for not having done anything."

Sakura shook her head. "That won't happen, so why don't you just work your way up like what Syaoran did, instead of going for shortcuts?"

"You bitch!" Rena screamed with venom. "Don't give me the wise talk when you don't know anything about this damned business. The mountain we have to climb is so steep that we fall faster than we can climb!"

"Then quit," Sakura replied as she walked past Rena towards the door. "If not, don't complain. It isn't any easier for the others."

The door closed behind Rena.

* * *

Childish was an understatement to describe Rena's action, but Sakura couldn't bring herself to despise her because she felt Rena's pain in those words. Rena most likely did not enjoy doing what she did, but since this was the only way to survive in the industry, she had to do it no matter what.

Sakura had to watch her back on Rena in case if something happened to her and Syaoran, which would most definitely affect Tomoyo. She had to warn Syaoran, in advance.

After she returned to the runway, she found the place empty. She asked one of the staff members where everyone had gone. He told her that Tomoyo had announced an early dismissal due to a thunder storm that was approaching Tokyo later in the afternoon. Everyone else had left to pick up their luggage from the dressing room.

Since her luggage was already brought out to Syaoran's car earlier, she waited for the others in the parking lot. The nausea that she felt the day before slowly came back to her as the sky outside darkened.

"Are you ready?" Syaoran exited from the backdoor with his luggage in hand, eyes covered by a pair of shades. Even in just a simple t-shirt and jeans (obviously designer brand), he looked like he just walked out from a commercial shooting.

"Yea. Where's everyone else?"

"They'll be out soon. We can leave first since we're heading for a different route." The Porsche's front trunk opened automatically as he tossed his Gucci bag in.

"Looks like it's coming sooner than expected." His looked up and inspected the dark sky. "Let's go, honey." Somehow, it was never possible for him not to add in those terms.

"What about Hikari?" Sakura asked, opening her side of the car door.

"She's going with them."

"So we're going straight to my grandparents' house?" she made sure. It was so ironic that she was completely clueless about the plan when it involved her own family members.

"Yes. "

Sakura held up a large brown envelope from her seat before she sat down. "Where do I put this?"

He took it from her. Before he went out of the car to put it in the front trunk, Sakura noticed two letters written at the top right hand corner of the envelope: _S.K._

It was the document of Sakura's background information that Syaoran told his private investigator, Daniel, to prepare. He had mailed it from the States to Eriol's office. That was the reason for Syaoran's visit to the company at lunch. But, he still didn't find a time to read it.

When the car began to move, she leaned her head against the cool window and tightly shut her eyes as if the coolness of the window could somehow heal her sickness.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel like throwing up," she replied weakly. "Let me rest for a bit and I'll be fine."

At the moment, she wished that the sickness would go away so she could talk to him about Rena. But knowing that they were going to be stuck together for the next two hours in the car, allowed her to delay her speech.

Before she dozed off, Debussy's Claire de Lune began to play in the background.

* * *

She woke up here and there, but they only lasted a few seconds before she dozed off, again. The first time she woke up and dozed off, she came to realize that tiredness was another reason for her sleep, built up from the previous nights from helping Tomoyo.

There was another time when she found herself alone in the car. Before she could assess the situation, she fell back into slumber again.

"…will be there in about 20 minutes…"

"It's alright. The rain's starting to clear up…"

Syaoran's voice was soft and polite, but everything around Sakura felt like a blur. She didn't know how long it'd been since the last time she was awake.

"Yes, see you soon grandma."

At hearing "grandma", her eyes snapped open, suddenly feeling alarmed. She noticed that she was lying flat on her seat. Syaoran must have pushed her seat down while she was sleeping.

"Sleeping Beauty's finally awake." Without looking at Syaoran, she knew that a smirk was playing on his lips.

She tried to sit up but the seat belt restrained her movement. She tried again by unbuckling her seat belt.

A piece of clothing slid from her body to her feet as she did so.

"Uh, thanks," she said to him awkwardly after she picked up Syaoran's gray hoodie from her feet. No wonder she didn't feel cold when she was asleep.

"I didn't think you'd sleep for so long. The tea I bought for you is probably cold by now."

He grabbed the cup of tea from the cup holder and handed it to Sakura, without taking his eyes off the road.

"Thank you," she said again. She stared at him, quietly, while he concentrated on the road. She sighed, feeling a bit sad that his care for her was due to the purpose of fulfilling his part of the deal.

No. What was she thinking? Shaking her head, she pushed away those thoughts.

"Why the sigh?" he asked, turning to look at her.

Speaking of the deal, she remembered her conversation with Rena. How could she bring the topic up without him assuming that she was jealous of Rena, like what he had done earlier today?

"I wish everything will go well for Tomoyo," she replied, being partially truthful. Perhaps, it was better to just get to the point instead of spinning around in circles.

"The show is going well," Syaoran praised. "All the models are doing a good job. Kase's pretty satisfied too."

"I don't mean the show, specifically. I mean her big contract with you."

Syaoran froze for a nanosecond. Millions of images and ideas passed through his head before he grinned at her.

"Looks like our Sleeping Beauty's jealous of Rena."

Sakura, knowing that this would come, sighed again loudly.

"I knew you were going to say something like this. I'm not jealous. Obviously we all can tell that she wants you. If anything happens between you two, it's not my business and I don't think I would care at all. But, if anything were to happen while our deal is still in effect, then I must butt in. Do you understand what I mean, Syaoran?"

She looked at him intently. Unconsciously, she was clenching her fists tightly.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen during this contract," Syaoran assured her in a serious low voice. Although his eyes never left the dark road, Sakura knew he meant what he said.

_Does that mean something will happen after the contract is over? _

"Thank you, Syaoran."

It was silence during the rest of the ride. Sakura never took her eyes off the view of the road illuminated by highway lights.

* * *

"Can we go watch you two during the photo shoot?" Misaki asked excitedly, her child-like nature taking its full course. She was walking around in the kitchen restlessly.

"It's going to be a hot day tomorrow, grandma. And we'll be working for a really long time," Sakura said to Misaki, while she handed a wet plate to Syaoran.

The two of them offered to wash the dishes after dinner. Well, Syaoran was actually the one who asked Misaki first. Apparently according to him, he wanted to "do something that normal people would do."

Sakura knew that he probably just wanted to leave a good impression on her grandparents, but she didn't reject his offer. Four hands were always better than two.

"Let the kids be, Misaki," Yamamoto told Misaki. He was sitting at the dinner table with a cup of tea in front of him. "Think about how distracted they'll get, knowing that we'll be there."

"Yes, grandma. All I'll want to do is to talk to you if you're going to be there. That way, I won't be able to get anything done," Syaoran said with a huge grin. He walked over to the cupboard and put the dried plate in.

Misaki crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Oh fine."

Sakura was kind of surprised that her grandma gave up so easily. After all, her stubbornness was passed down from her grandma to her and her deceased mother.

She looked at Syaoran, and he gave her a small wink.

After the dishes were finished, they bid farewell to Yamamoto and Misaki. The drive from their house to the hotel took about half an hour because the hotel was located near the periphery of Yokohama.

When they arrived, it was almost 10 o'clock. The two of them checked in at the front desk and were led to their rooms by a hotel staff. Unsurprisingly, their rooms were right across from each other's. Talk about coincidence.

"Good night, Syaoran," Sakura said to Syaoran as she opened the door of her room and was about to enter.

"No good night kiss, my love?" Syaoran asked with hurt. She froze at the doorstep, back facing him.

Within two quick strides, he was standing right behind Sakura. The distance between them was merely centimetres apart.

His long arms wrapped around her waist from behind as he planted a kiss on her hair.

"Don't worry, that's good enough for the paparazzi," he whispered into her ears before he separated himself from her.

"Good night, dear." With a back wave of his hand, he closed his door.

Sakura closed her door as well and quietly sat on the edge of the bed, stunned. Her heart was beating at top speed.

That was a bold move of Syaoran. And a quick one, too.

Hopefully, that was enough for the paparazzi to write about.

* * *

_Kinomoto Nadeshiko wasn't being reasonable, at all. Where was her normal calm? As to how they got into this disagreement, Sakura had no idea. She didn't even know why she was so angry. _

_She was afraid to talk back to her mom. Not because she was scared of her, but because her mom was driving at the moment and she didn't want her to get distracted. But it was too hard. The anger within Sakura was rising quickly. _

_In less than a minute, she exploded. A string of words came out of her mouth nonstop, with chagrin_

_The next thing that happened terrified Sakura, and everything turned blank around her._

She woke up with a startle. Her dream felt too realistic. The emotions, the setting, and everything else were like déjà vu.

Just like the other times whenever she had similar dreams like this one, her body was covered in sweat. Sometimes, she wondered if this was actually what had happened to her and her mom 7 years ago in the car crash.

She checked her cell phone for the time. It was only 3 in the morning, but she didn't dare to sleep again, or else the terrifying dream would return to haunt her.

* * *

"What happened to you, Sakura? You didn't sleep last night?" Syaoran's personal makeup artist asked as she worked on covering Sakura's face with foundation and concealer.

Through the mirror, she saw her own reflection. She looked like a living zombie. The dark circles under her eyes were so prominent that even by adding layers and layers of concealer still wasn't making a difference.

"Insomnia," Sakura replied tiredly.

"Well, it came at a wrong time, my dear," the makeup artist sighed disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, Nana. Where's Syaoran? He already left before I came in."

"He's having his fitting with Tomoyo in the other room." Nana brushed some salmon-coloured eye shadow underneath her eyes. "Perfect. Now that this is done…"

When Nana was done with her, a wide grin plastered her face. Her eyes were shining with pride.

"No one will dare to criticize you now that I'm done with you," she said proudly.

She moved out of Sakura's way so that Sakura could see herself in the mirror. For the first time in her life, she thought she was 'beautiful.'

Her eyes were large and shinny with layers of warm gold eye shadow on top. Tiny emerald diamond beads were glued to the outer corner of her eyes. Due to contouring, she had beautiful high cheekbones and the faintest blush of pink. Her lips were glossy with a tiny bit of red added to them.

Combined with her makeup was her hair. The hairstylist before Nana gave Sakura long auburn extensions, and he braided it to one side of her shoulder.

She looked like a Goddess. In fact, that was the ideal image Nana, the hairstylist and Tomoyo were aiming for because the image suited the plot behind Tomoyo's collection.

If two people were in love, they would not see anyone else in their eyes other than their partner. Automatically, the female partner would be regarded as a Goddess in the male partner's eyes. She would be the most beautiful thing in her partner's eyes.

"Wow," Sakura said in awe. "Thank you, Nana."

"It was my pleasure to work with your face, my dear. Especially with the situation you were in, it was quite a challenge. But I liked it," Nana joked.

"Let's get you to the other room for your fitting."

Everyone turned their head when Sakura entered the fitting room. They stopped whatever they were doing and gathered around Sakura to give her praises. Nana, standing beside Sakura, could have died of happiness.

When the staff members dispersed, Syaoran and Tomoyo came out from the back of the room together.

"During the photo shoot, you may have to take this—"Tomoyo stopped talking to Syaoran when she saw Sakura standing at the door.

Her face brightened and the biggest grin appeared on her face, one that Sakura had never seen before.

She literally ran over to Sakura and embraced her tightly. "You are gorgeous, Sakura!"

Looking through Tomoyo's hair, Sakura stole glimpses of Syaoran. He seemed to be fixing the buttons of the sleeves of his dress shirt. Then, out of nowhere, Rena stood next to him and was fixing his collar for him.

"T-Thank you, Tomoyo. Sorry for taking so long. Which outfit am I going to wear first?" Sakura asked, returning her attention to her excited best friend.

Tomoyo pulled Sakura with her to the back room and said, "Follow me!"

* * *

The photo shoot took place in a man-made cherry blossom park that had cherry trees that blossomed every season of the year. It was the only one in the country, and was almost never empty. Just for the photo shoot, the TV company that was given permission to film Syaoran and Sakura today booked the entire park for them.

When Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo and the others that were helping with the fitting arrived at the scene, it was already set up with camera equipments of all sorts, both for the photo shoot and the film.

"The two of you look fabulous," Kase said. "Now, I want Syaoran to sit by that tree over there, and Sakura to lie on his knees."

The two of them followed his order.

Syaoran made himself comfortable on the ground and patted his leg invitingly to Sakura. She looked unsure. In front of so many cameras and people, she wondered why Syaoran could act so casually.

_Of course he's experienced to this, already. _

"C'mon honey. I promise I'll try not to bite." He said to Sakura loudly and winked. Several people giggled.

Unwillingly, Sakura laid her head on his leg. One of his arms snaked around her waist. The other hand landed on her hair, pretending to smooth it out. He smiled down at her charmingly, but all Sakura could do was stare at him blankly.

Looking at his face, many images began to fly through her head. Her head was starting to pound, again. Something like this never happened to her before. She didn't know what was going on.

Wrong place, wrong time.

"Sakura!" Kase barked, his working attitude kicking in. "What the hell are you doing? You're not supposed to look pained! Show me some love, will you!"

Syaoran caressed Sakura's face gently. "Just a little smile," he whispered. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Her head was pounding so hard that none of their words went into her head.

"Okay, let's come back to this! You two, I want you to show me a kiss between two people who just started dating. This won't be hard for you right, Kinomoto. Aren't the two of you dating right now?" Kase said impatiently.

Syaoran and Sakura moved to the middle of two rows of cherry blossom trees. Ironically, Sakura's head stopped pounding the instant they got up from their tree position.

"Okay let's do this, Sakura." Syaoran grabbed her arms and wrapped them around his neck while his did the same to her waist.

"Do we have to actually kiss?" Sakura asked in a low voice, frightened. He nodded. "Unfortunately yes, but it won't be long. Just a small peck then we're done."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Fine."

As his face descended slowly to hers, her head began to hurt again. Millions of images flew into her head continuously. She saw his face flicker between another face, which its features were obscured. She was living in her own trauma while anticipating the touch of Syaoran's lips, but it never came.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked, showing his rare show of concern. Her expression looked like she'd just seen a ghost.

"What the hell is your problem, Kinomoto?" Kase barked again. This time, he was really angry. His face was flushed.

Kase stomped towards them and glared at Sakura menacingly. "You will be replaced if you don't do it perfectly, do you understand?"

On impulse, she shouted back venomously. "I didn't even want to do this in the first place!" She knew she shouldn't have done that but her head hurt so much that she no longer had self control.

"Rena! Come and show Kinomoto how the first one should be done!" Kase commanded Rena and she rushed onto the set.

Sakura stormed off the set. Tomoyo rushed to her side and handed her a cup of coffee. "Are you alright, Sakura?"

"No." She ignored Tomoyo when she tried to talk to her.

"Yes. Excellent. That's exactly what I want!" From where she stood, she heard Kase shouting praises at Syaoran and Rena. His camera kept on clicking, one after the other. Kase was satisfied with their performance and ordered them to pose for a second position.

_Anyone BUT Rena. Anyone but HER._

"Kase," Syaoran spoke directly to the photographer for the first time since the beginning of the photo shoot. "We won't have enough time left if we do another demo. Why don't we switch Sakura back? I'm sure she knows how to do it by now."

Kase's smile from earlier faded, but he didn't say anything. Rena got off of the set and headed towards Sakura. She glared at her with hatred, as if Sakura was ruining her moment.

Rena's expression was all the more motivation for Sakura to do well. Her pain was fading due to coffee so she was in a better shape than before.

Returning back to the set, Syaoran and her eyes met. For the first time, she saw determination in his eyes.

The two of them restarted from the first pose against the tree. Syaoran sat down quietly, this time, and extended his legs to make room for her head. She laid flat on him and stared into his eyes.

"EXPRESSIONLESS! I need more emotions!" Kase was barking like an angry dog again.

This time, Syaoran bent down to Sakura's face. From where they were, she heard faint murmurs from the staff all around the setting. They probably thought he was going to kiss her, just like what Sakura thought.

"W-What are you doing!" she exclaimed fiercely but in a quiet voice.

Syaoran stopped his advancement and looked intently into her eyes. "No, what are YOU doing?" he whispered back seriously. "You've come a long way to help Tomoyo and now you're throwing everything away. You've hurt your friend deeply today."

He lifted his face away from her. Sakura glanced to the side and found Tomoyo sitting on a chair, alone. She looked hurt from what Sakura had said earlier. She did want to do the photo shoot. It was the headache that was stopping her from getting anything done.

But now, she won't let that happen anymore. She won't hurt Tomoyo AND she won't lose to Rena.

Her determination showed on her face because Syaoran's solemnity lifted and was replaced by his casual attitude.

"I think we're ready now, Kase!" he announced to the photographer.

* * *

It was the night of the fashion show. Dozens of unexpected, superstar-level A-Listers, fashion critics, and other extraordinary characters showed up because of Syaoran's participation in the show. Tomoyo was the first new designer to have so many special guests attending her fashion show.

Even Syaoran's fans crowded around the front of the company, hoping to get a glimpse of their celebrity crush.

Tomoyo personally welcomed each guest at the front door and guided some of them to their designated seats. "Thank you for coming."

She was overjoyed by the outcome of the attending guests, but what made her extremely happy was a certain someone who walked in through the front door with a large bouquet of roses.

"Congratulations on your first fashion show!" Eriol grinned and handed the red roses to Tomoyo. "The flowers were so pretty, I couldn't resist."

Tomoyo blushed furiously. She shyly accepted the flowers. "Thank you. Allow me to guide you to your seat."

* * *

"Come in," Syaoran called out to the person knocking on his dressing room door.

Rena's heels clicked as she walked into the room. "Can I talk to you privately, please." Syaoran ordered his stylist and makeup artist to leave the room for a moment.

When the door closed behind Rena, she immediately marched right up to Syaoran until there was only a small distance left.

"Syaoran, I was at the café that day," she said intimately. She didn't bother wasting her time on getting her point through.

"What café?"

"The one where you and Kinomoto Sakura signed that fake dating contract." She smiled innocently.

Syaoran played it cool with a smile in return. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you don't want me to go out there and announce it to the press, I suggest you walk out on the runway tonight with me as your partner instead of Kinomoto."

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **It is 4:21 a.m. at the moment. I think I'm getting used to writing this story at such early hours, now. A lot of things happened in this chapter. For those who wanted to see some T+E moments, I added a short one in. ; ) For those who wanted more S+S moments, I added many as well. Hopefully, the chapter wasn't too bad. What's going to happen now that Rena knows about the contract? Stay tuned for the next chapter! I promise the next one will come out sooner since exams are over.

Oh yeah, REMEMBER TO REVIEWWWWWWWWWWW! 3 Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12

**Valkyrie85: **Hello everyone ; ) Nice to see you guys again. Thank you so, so, so much for your reviews! I got so much ideas from them. Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you'll like it just as much, and hopefully will review!

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Syaoran played it cool with a smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you don't want me to go out there and announce it to the press, I suggest you walk out on the runway tonight with me as your partner instead of Kinomoto," Rena replied with a triumphant smile.

She wasn't fooled by his indifference.

"Like I said," he repeated calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The way he looked into her eyes made everything too convincing at the moment. She was beginning to have her doubts, but then she pulled out a small recorder from her pocket and every trace of her doubt was gone.

Her boney finger pressed the play button and a familiar conversation began.

_"Your friend has the potential. I want to help her out. You look like you don't believe me." _Syaoran said.

_"I don't." _This time, a female voice replied. It was Sakura's.

_"In order for this to work, I need your help. I need you to be my fake girlfriend." _

_"Are you out of your mind, Li?" _

"_No, I'm dead serious." _

Something felt wrong. The recorder continued to play, but Syaoran didn't need to listen to the rest of it to check if it was fake.

He was caught, and there was proof.

There were many times when paparazzi got pictures of him and his rumoured girlfriends, but this time it was a totally different situation. If the public were to find out about this, his career could possibly end right there.

He had a feeling that something like this would happen sooner or later because he had been pretty loose on his part on trying to hide the secret.

He told himself that he shouldn't have gone to a café. But, then again, where else could he have gone to other than that place? It was one of the highly-secured cafes where public figures like him could go to, without having the fear of being eavesdropped.

The cafe had secret detectors installed in every part of it, in case if people like Rena recorded conversations.

…Finally, something clicked. He remembered that the tables around his table were all empty on that day. There was no way for Rena to record if she wasn't present herself. Even if she had hired someone else to do so, they wouldn't get very far with the installed detectors.

The only exception was if…the person who came up with all of this had invincible power, possibly someone of high social status as well…someone who wanted to see Syaoran's reputation get hurt.

When he came to this conclusion, he didn't feel scared. No, not the least bit. Instead, he felt a spasm of excitement.

He always liked challenges, and he was granted one.

"Who gave you this?" Syaoran asked Rena casually. His unaffected response took Rena aback because the victorious smile on her face faded instantly and the colour from her face was washed away.

"It doesn't matter who. This is the thing you should worry about the least at the moment, shouldn't it?"

The fact that she didn't even deny his accusation confirmed his suspicion. He grinned at his analyzing skills.

Syaoran took a step towards her, and she took 2 steps back. He kept on walking until he pinned her to the wall. His hands were supported by the wall, one on each side of her head.

Rena blushed furiously at their position. Any other time would have been great, especially if they were doing this in front of the press. But now, the atmosphere didn't hold any romance and intimacy.

"How are things between you and the Jacelyn & Tracy. manager? Has he any luck in getting you the job for the ad. Campaign?" he asked curiously. Chills ran down her spine.

"How do you know this?" Rena asked, frightened. She felt unsafe standing so close to Syaoran. She tried to move away from him, but there was no more space.

Syaoran smiled dangerously. "Just the way you found out mine. Now, we could make this easy if you co-operate. Tell me who gave you the recorder, stay quiet for the show and I'll get you the contract that you've always wanted. Or, we could do it the hard way. I announce your rendezvous with that married man to the press and make sure that your future career in this industry like hell. Which one do you choose?"

Rena made no hesitations when she blurted out her decision. "I-I don't know who the person is. I received a package last night with initials A.K. on it. I opened it and there was a cheque, a note, and the recorder. It told me that I could use this against you."

Rena was so scared, she couldn't bring herself to look into Syaoran's burning amber orbs. She was shaking when he tilted her chin up with his finger. Unwillingly, she made eye contact with him.

"Thank you for co-operating with me. You can relax now. I won't hurt you. But there's one thing that I must warn you about," Syaoran said in a voice that wasn't kind but wasn't as cold as before.

Rena's silent stare told him that she agreed. She was still scared to talk.

"I want you to stay away from Sakura from now on."

Rena's eyes widened at his warning. From his words, she realized that he had known about her real intentions, all along. All those times when she tried to make up excuses just to get near him…he had known all along.

But why didn't he do anything to stop her?

"I-I did something to her heels…" she said to him quietly, before she could shut her mouth. She felt so pathetic for confessing to him her sins.

Without listening to the rest of her words, Syaoran dashed out the door, almost knocking over his stylists on the way.

* * *

A man in his late twenties stared with concentration into his big computer screen, chin resting on his hands.

The light in his office was dimmed due to the blinds.

He was so concentrated on what was on the screen that he nearly jumped up when someone spoke from behind. "Is Sakura's show starting, yet?"

It was the man's wife of 2 years but girlfriend of many more, Kinomoto Kaho, or as the public knew, Annie Kinomoto.

"Mizuki, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before you enter?" the man looked up and growled at his secretary/wife, trying to hide his previous startle. "Mizuki" was his wife's old last name. He used it whenever he felt the need to have authority.

His wife ignored his outburst and leaned over him to look at the screen again, as if nothing had happened. "Yes sir ," she replied casually, not full-heartedly in any way.

Kinomoto Touya sighed defeatedly. In front of his workers, he was the responsible, solemn CEO that everyone respected and knew, but hardly appeared in public. However whenever he was at home, his wife's behaviour around him made him feel small…and even normal. Perhaps that was the reason why he married this woman.

He stood up from his seat and went to close his office door. By the time he returned to his desk, Kaho was already seated in his chair. Her chin rested on her palm.

"Did you send the flowers to Sakura and Tomoyo?"

"I did," Touya replied.

"You didn't use Aaron, did you?" Kaho made sure, although she knew that Touya wouldn't have done something so carelessly.

Aaron Kinomoto was his English name. It was what the public knew him by. It was also the name that all of his business partners knew him by.

"Of course." Touya said, his mind else-where.

"Good, hopefully they'll like the flowers that I personally picked out."

* * *

_Don't be so happy yet. The contract I signed with Daidouji lasts for 6 months, which means that you will have to be my fake girlfriend for just as long…_

The words played inside Sakura's head again and again. Even as she was getting ready for the show, getting dressed and getting her makeup done, she never managed to let those words slip out of her mind.

The day before, she spazzed at Syaoran over the news. Originally, she was told by Syaoran that their deal would last until the end of his contrac. She automatically assumed that it would only take about a month or two. How stupid of her to have assumed that so quickly.

She later apologized, however unwillingly, to him because of her unreasonable outburst.

Even though she overreacted, it wasn't entirely unreasonable of her. After all, she didn't come to Japan so that she could fake-date some superstar. She was afraid that once her internship started, which was in two days, she wouldn't be able to handle both things at once and would be distracted from her priority.

She sat on a chair and slid on her stiletto heels slowly, while everyone else in the backstage moved busily. The show was going to start in less than 5 mintues.

"Sakura! Standby. You are making the entrance with Syaoran!" Kase called from the curtains. She quickly stood up and started pacing towards Kase.

Suddenly, the heel of her shoes broke off. She stumbled and fell to the floor. Everyone around her had quick reflexes and moved away before they got pushed down by her.

The pain from her sprained ankle was torturous, but she didn't make any sounds. She bit her lips tightly so that no sound escaped her mouth. Tomoyo's dream was going to come true minutes away and she wasn't going to ruin it.

People around her tried to help her get up but she shook their hands off. Slowly and painfully, she attempted to sit up.

A hand extended out to her. For some reason, she didn't reject it and used it as a supporting stand.

"Hikari, can you get some ice for her ankle and throw these heels away so no one else will get hurt," Syaoran ordered. He led Sakura to a nearby chair, carrying most of her weight. He carefully placed her on the chair and the injured leg on another.

"What's going on!" Kase shouted angrily from the curtains again, oblivious to what was happening. "Syaoran and Sakura, get here now!"

Syaoran examined Sakura's swollen ankle quickly and said," You won't be able to walk, tonight."

Sakura bit back her pain and hissed dangerously. "Yes, I can. Let me go now."

"Syaoran, get up there with Rena NOW!" Kase, who finally realized Sakura's circumstance, barked.

Ignoring Kase, Syaoran replied to Sakura pressingly, almost as if he was holding down his temper. "Walking awkwardly up there with that ankle will only embarrass your friend. If you even want to make an appearance tonight, stay calm and wait for me to come back for you."

He approached Kase, who had a line of models forming behind him already. Unsurprisingly, they all stopped what they were doing and were looking at Sakura and Syaoran, the whole time.

"I will go up, but just not with Rena," he told to Kase in his usual voice again.

Sakura was shocked, but obviously Akira wasn't because she gave her a huge wink like she knew he would have said that, before she was ordered back into spot by Kase.

The minute Syaoran made his entrance, cameras began flashing desperately. Media from all over the world attended this show because it was the first time in history that a top model like Syaoran modelled for a small brand. They all gathered to witness the collection of clothes that captured Syaoran's interest.

Doing shows wasn't a big deal for Syaoran. He kept his hands in his pockets as he walked down the catwalk.

The faces of all the attendees were blinded by the dimmed lights. Yet, he was trying his best to make out the faces. He wanted to find the person who desired his career fallback. He decided that there were numerous amounts of suspects.

He gave a handsome smile once he reached the edge of the runway. It was a triumphant smile directed to the master mind who thought that he would easily give in and collaborate with Rena. Hopefully, the master mind was watching all of this.

Making a turn, he headed back into the backstage.

When he got back, he found Sakura's view blocked by Tomoyo's body.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura," Tomoyo apologized sadly. It definitely did not sound like the first 'sorry' from the expression on Sakura's face.

"Don't worry. Sakura will walk for you, tonight, no matter what," Syaoran convinced Tomoyo, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.

Sakura's eyebrows rose at him, even though she strongly wanted to believe his words.

"How can that happen with that swollen ankle of hers?" Tomoyo spoke what was on Sakura's mind. She took a look at her ankle that was being taken care of by Hikari.

Syaoran smiled half-crookedly. He bent down and picked Sakura in his arms, bridal style. "Like this."

Sakura didn't kick or struggle in his arms. Syaoran took that as a good sign and brought her left arm around his neck. "Just so we know you're safe in my arms," he looked down and winked.

Their colleagues gasped and awed at the sight. Sakura felt her face flush the tiniest bit.

When Rena, being the second last model of the show, returned, she made a moment of eye contact with them and then walked away, looking down at the floor.

"Are we ready?" Syaoran asked Sakura and Tomoyo, who was standing beside them.

With nods from both girls, he carried Sakura out onto the runway. Tomoyo tagged behind.

"And now, please give a round of applause to Daidouji—" the host looked at Syaoran and Sakura and cut off in surprise.

"Dai-douji Tomoyo and her group of models."

His final words were cut off when the audience rose to their feet for a standing ovation. In addition to the sound of their hands was the click of the cameras.

This was one of the most exclusive moments. By the end of tonight, the picture of Syaoran and Sakura would surface online. By tomorrow morning, they will be on the cover of all types of newspapers and magazines all over Asia, or possibly even other parts of the world.

_There you have it, A.K. I hope you see how happy I am with her. _

To Sakura's total astonishment, he descended his lips upon hers. This time, it wasn't a fake kiss.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **Rena is quite an easy target, if you ask me. She gets persuaded easily and gets scared off even more easily! What did you think of this chapter? Who's the A.K. person who supposedly wants to see Syaoran's career fallback...or is it really the fallback that the person wants to see happen? I know that the pace of the story for the past few chapters have been slow. That's because all this modelling stuff is one of the most important turning points in the story. From the next chapter on, I promise that the pace will pick up. Anyways, remember to REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

~~btwwww, SYAORAN KISSED SAKURA!~~~

I'm looking forward to your reviews ; ) (Sometimes I want to reply to all of yours, but I'm scared of spoiling the story. Please forgive me for not replying in the past. From now on, if you would like a reply, please tell me. Or, if there's something you're unsure about, I'll also reply. )


	13. Chapter 13

**Valkyrie85: **Heeeeelllooooooooo, my lovely readers! It's me again! I hope you're all having a splendid March Break! Last chapter was a great success! A lot of you enjoyed the last little kiss, huh? ; ) Hopefully, this chapter will also make you excited. I tried my best to reply to those who wanted a reply, but some of you reviewed anonymously, so I couldn't do it ( There was one in particular that I would like to give an answer to. A reviewer asked me if I got the idea of the napkin contract thing from a korean drama. Well, nope! I thought of this idea, since Syaoran and Sakura had nothing to write on in the restaurant ; ). Also, I have never seen the drama, before. I guess, what happened here was that great minds thought alike ; p LOLL I'm just joking. Ugh, I'm kind of hyped up right now, so please excuse my weridness. Anyways, thank you all for reviewing and reading!

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Oh my God! They're so cute together!" Kaho squeaked as she watched Syaoran kiss Sakura. She spun around and wrapped her arms around Touya's neck, excitedly.

"Touya?"

She pulled away from her husband when she heard no reaction.

He was glaring dangerously into the screen as he watched the reporters pleading his sister and Syaoran to look in their direction for the pictures.

Kaho sighed. "What's with that look?" she asked, pinching his cheeks, even though she already knew the reason. "Just look at them! Syaoran adores her!" she tried to persuade.

Touya said nothing and continued to glare into the computer.

* * *

_Sakura was pacing briskly to her next class in the empty hallway. Her stupid science teacher held her back because she didn't write the date on the assignment that she was handing in. Why did a grade nine teacher have to pick on such a small detail as if they were still in elementary school? _

_She looked ahead and noticed her first crush after entering high school, Joshua Strezos, leaning against the frame of his classroom door. Like always, she began to feel her heart speeding. _

_She knew it was childish to act like that, considering she didn't even know the person that much. But then again, weren't all high school crushes alike, with no one really knowing the reason why they had admiration for a certain person?_

_In Sakura's case, all she knew was that Joshua Strezos was good looking. He was a fobby-looking guy in grade 12, with dirty-blond hair and he wore black framed glasses. Also, he was on the school's tennis and badminton team._

_Today, Sakura felt extra nervous because the day before, he had asked one of Sakura's friends, who was good friends with Joshua, online if Sakura liked him. He had probably caught her staring at him during lunch time. _

_Her friend later told Sakura about it and asked for Sakura's reply. As a total wimp, she told her friend to say "no" to Joshua. _

_Looking at the smirk on Joshua's face as he watched her walk towards his direction, Sakura knew he was unconvinced by her reply. Contrary to what she was feeling inside, she calmly took out her Ipod and pretended to change the song. _

_After she past him, she put the Ipod back into her pocket and sighed softly in relief. _

"_Li!" Suddenly, Joshua exclaimed to a tall, slim guy with chocolate-coloured hair, who turned at the corner in front of Sakura. The guy, Sakura recognized, was the captain of New York High's well-known soccer team, Syaoran Li. He was also in grade 12, had a sister in the same grade as her, and was one of Joshua's best friends. _

"_Lookin' sharp! Isn't that the chic you like?" Joshua spoke loudly in a mocking tone, as if purposefully wanting Sakura to hear. _

_Syaoran gave Sakura a quick look and an unintelligible expression appeared on his face. He walked past her towards Joshua. _

"_Her? Nah, you made a mistake," Syaoran replied in a tone which, in Sakura's opinion, symbolized mockery. _

_Sakura's legs became numb when she finally made her turn, her original intentions of getting to class on time, long gone. She slowly walked down the hallway, replaying their words inside her head. _

_From all angles of consideration, it was obvious that Joshua wasn't convinced by her reply and wanted to tease her, since she was a niner. As to why Josh had directed the question to Syaoran instead of the other way around like what usually would have happened, it was unfathomable._

_Hatred and embarrassment began to surface in her. Her opinions of Joshua Strezos changed from that day on. He was too much of a jerk. _

_And Syaoran Li was equally as worse. _

* * *

Sakura's eyes opened slowly, the light that penetrated through the windows slightly binding her. She gave a lazy stretch across the large bed. As her mouth widened in a yawn, tightening the muscles on her face, a jolt of pain shot through her head.

_What's with the pain? _

She jogged through her memory, trying to remember what happened to her last night after the show. Instead, she recalled parts of her dream. Other than Syaoran and a bit of anger, nothing else came up.

It was weird that she had a dream about Syaoran.

She sat up on the bed. The thick blanket that covered her slipped down as she rose, taking away some of the weight. She scanned the strange, empty room, in horror.

She was not in her room…so where could she be?

Everything was either black or white in the room. Starting with the bed, the blanket was black and the bed sheets and pillows were white. On either side of the bad was a black night stand graced with a funny-looking night lamp on top.

The bed set was big, but only took up less than half of the room. As she turned to her right, there was a large window, draped with velvet white curtains. The view outside was of tall buildings of Tokyo downtown. Beside the window was a white, comfortable leather chair.

Overall, the room looked modern and high-class, but it was definitely not the type of room that Sakura liked. It didn't feel like home.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked herself, frantically. Her room back in Tomoyo's house definitely did not look like this…

She looked down at her body. What she witnessed made her scream.

She was in nothing but a bra and panties...

She got out of bed slowly for her ankle was still sprained from yesterday. She surveyed around the room for her clothes but to no avail. With no more option, Sakura stripped the white bed sheet off of the mattress and wrapped it protectively around her body.

She went to the door as fast as her injured ankle allowed her. Luckily, the door was not locked, which was the opposite of what she'd imagined. The cold floor she carelessly stepped on was not helping with her anxiety.

Walking out into what she assumed to be the living room, she found a man lying half-naked on his front, on a gray suede sofa. His bottom was covered by a white blanket.

Recognizing his messy chocolate-coloured hair, it instilled a sigh of relief but also a sudden surge of violence in her. Sakura took three long strides towards him and half-consciously jumped him. She slapped him hard on his bare back, which resulted in an angry red handprint.

"Syaoran Li! What did you do to me?"

Syaoran, awoke alarmingly by the sudden weight and pain, shifted quickly and made her fall onto the floor.

At first, his eyes were filled with tension. The rims around his eyes were red from a lack of sleep. Then when he realized who the assaulter was, he lazily slid onto the arm of the sofa, and supported his weight with the elbow.

"Ah, you're finally awake Sleeping Beauty," he said tiredly. He extended the other free arm as if to welcome her into a hug, but she slapped it away harshly.

"What did you do to me?" she got up from the floor, while rearranging the bed sheets to properly cover her body from him.

Syaoran watched her amusedly. "We need to get you some proper clothes."

Looking at Sakura's pissed-off expression, he added. "I didn't do much last night. I just took your clothes off and tucked you into bed."

Sakura's rage was once again ignited. She lunged onto him but his quick reflexes allowed him to restrain her arms in a tight embrace.

The two of them laid on the sofa, which thankfully was wide enough so that no one was on top of another.

"Woah, careful there. You don't know what will happen if my million dollar face is ruined!" he warned, while keeping Sakura's struggling body calmed. Neither of them failed to notice that only a bed sheet separated their naked bodies.

"You're a bastard, Li Syaoran!" Sakura screamed, sounding as if she were on the verge of crying. In fact, she was close to that point. Never in her 22 years of life had she slept at a man's house. Let alone, clueless about what had happened the night before.

Why wasn't her memory working in such a serious situation?

Syaoran pulled his body away from her when he noticed her soft weeps. She looked down so that he wouldn't see her wet eyes. As much as he found it amusing, and slightly surprising, to see this kind of emotion from Sakura, he had to do something before she advanced in her assaults.

He released his arms to cup her face with his hands and forced her to look up at her. "After the show yesterday, I left you at the bar set up for the after-party, so I could take care of the press. When I returned, you already collapsed from all that drinking. For some reason I have no idea about, you told me that you didn't want to go home so I brought you back…and you puked all over yourself afterwards. I had to strip you out of your clothes, or else my bed will stink like shit when I sleep in there, tonight," he explained.

Usually, Sakura wouldn't have believed someone so easily. Somehow, Syaoran's words told her that he spoke the truth. There was a sign of relief on Sakura's face, but then it turned into a frown. "Did you see anything…?"

Syaoran's expression lightened. "Shouldn't you be thanking me right now for being so responsible? After all, I AM a man."

She blushed furiously. He was right. No man would resist a woman when it came to those types of situations like last night, especially since both of them were pretty drunk.

Sakura wondered why she didn't feel awkward during all this time, especially the fact that she stayed over at his house.

With his muscular body so close to her own, she should be feeling the uneasiness, but she didn't….

"I should head back now. Tomoyo will get worried," she stood up from their position, abruptly, gathering the bed sheet around her body tightly.

Syaoran dug his cell phone out of the pile of blanket and checked for the time. "It's only a quarter to eight. Why don't we eat breakfast downstairs and I'll drop you off afterwards? And, I don't think Daidouji cares. She seemed rather happy when I phoned her last night."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She didn't like that her friend was falling so deep into the game.

"Fine. Before we go down, can I take a shower first?" Sakura asked, sniffing softly for any smell of puke.

"Absolutely, my dear. Allow me to show you around," he replied in a polite voice, leading her to the bathroom down the hall.

The very sight of him dressed in only green boxers would have made his female fans faint, but to Sakura, it was nothing. What caught her attention was the movement of his stiff upper body. "You could have let me have the couch instead," she told him.

"I was not brought up to treat a woman in such a cruel manner," he replied, arrogant. Sakura's eyes rolled.

He entered the bathroom, showing her where the towels were. "As for your clothes, I had to throw them away because it would stink up my house."

Sakura nodded. She didn't blame him for doing that. If she were in the same position, she wouldn't even have brought the person home, in the first place.

"There's the closet. With your intelligent brain, I'm sure you'll think of a way to dress up your pretty body," he continued, pointing towards a door, which led to his walk-in closet. How not surprising of him to have a walk-in closet interconnected with the bathroom…

Before she closed the door on him, he quickly told her, "Sakura, remember what I said before. I would never force you into something you don't want."

With that, he walked off. Sakura shut the bathroom door softly, thinking to herself.

His words of assurance calmed her very much. Syaoran and her relationship had improved over the past 3 weeks. She no longer felt the need to keep up her cool façade, not that she was doing it on purpose.

She didn't know whether the improvement was for better or for worse, but she warned herself that the line would be drawn right at that point.

Anything beyond that would hurt the both of them when the contract came to an end.

* * *

"Are you sure it'll be okay?" Sakura asked uncertainly, while she waited for Syaoran to put on his shoes.

"Okay for you to go out in that, or okay for us to go to a public breakfast café?" Syaoran replied, looking up from where he was sitting. He scanned Sakura quickly, without her noticing, for the third time.

She had intelligently pulled out an outfit from his wardrobe by wearing a super large blue dress shirt, which was even big for him, and secured it with one of his belts around the waist.

Sakura shrugged. "Both, I guess." It was weird that she was asking him for his opinion.

"Well, you look beautiful, darling. As for going out for breakfast, we don't really have a choice considering that I don't have anything at home to make breakfast with. Even if I do, we both don't know how to cook," he said matter-of-factly.

"I never said I couldn't! You just don' have anything for me to cook with. Are you even human? You have absolutely nothing in that huge fridge other than water?" Sakura retorted.

Syaoran finished tying his shoes and rose from the step. "Yes, yes. I've never cooked in this apartment. I'll make sure to buy some next time for you to work with, okay? For now, I'm really hungry. Can we just go?"

He extended his hand towards her. She looked at it with doubt.

"Celebrity life isn't as crazy as you think," he said, answering her fear. "It's early Saturday morning. There won't be a lot of people out."

She decided to trust him this once, and took his hand.

* * *

"Please take a seat. will be with you shortly after his clinic check," the old nurse behind the counter told Sakura.

Behind her were a few other nurses, staring at Sakura knowingly with admiration. They were doing some paper work before Sakura showed up for her first day of internship.

All of them, except the old woman who had greeted her, recognized Sakura as Li Syaoran's famous girlfriend.

She told herself to not let their stares affect her.

Sakura thanked the woman and walked to the colourful couches, after giving a small smile back to the nurses.

It was ten minutes to seven, a Monday. She made sure that she came on time for the first day of her training. She discovered from the front reception, after she arrived, that she was assigned to the new Children's department, a department especially designed for sick children.

Although she had originally applied for the Maternity department, she had no problem with this one. Working with children was something she liked to do, anyways.

Seated on the couch, she waited for her mentor, Yasahiro Shin. She wondered what kind of person he was like by analyzing his name. Yasahiro meant peaceful, calm, and wise. Shin meant truth.

Since the job of taking care of children required a lot of patience, usually it was popular with the female doctors. Considering her basic knowledge of this job, she came to the conclusion that her mentor may be in his early fifties. He was a very patient, kind man.

She tried to picture him in her head. Somehow, her father, Kinomoto Fujitaka's image appeared.

It made sense, since her father was the most accurate representation of a generous, patient, and caring person. Even though she started getting to know him only 7 years ago, she knew that his personality wouldn't have been different before she lost her memory.

In the past 7 years, he was constantly away on business trips, leaving her in the care of her brother. His absence didn't affect Sakura's view of him as a good father. She knew that business wasn't the only reason that kept him away. It was the grief over his wife's death that did. Sakura could understand that he wanted to stay away from the place where his wife had died.

Although he was away a lot, he was a very loving father whenever he returned. But no matter how good he was, Sakura's feelings for him weren't as strong as the feelings for her brother, who was always so protective.

"I hope that you're not feeling tired already, Miss Kinomoto," a clear, stern voice said. Sakura's eyes snapped open from her train of thoughts to find a man's face held only centimetres away from her own. His black orbs, framed by a pair of thin, silver glasses, stared coldly at her.

Sakura suddenly felt nervous. She couldn't break the eye contact with him. She felt like she was drowning into the blackness. Something about this man told her that he didn't like her.

"I-I was just—"

Without letting her finish, he stood straight up and looked down on her intensely. "I'm Yasahiro Shin, your mentor for the next 6 months." He extended his hand towards her.

"Nice to meet you, ," Sakura stood and shook his cold hand, trying to avoid direct eye contact with him. The height difference between them was almost the same as the difference between Syaoran and her, but the aura he emitted made him seem so much taller.

"I'm Kinomoto Sakura."

The man didn't smile or show any type of acknowledgement that a person should make on a first meeting with a stranger.

Instead, the grim on his face remained.

Shin was completely different from what Sakura had imagined. He looked about Syaoran's age, was tall and slim. His dark black hair was neatly combed, and nothing fancy was done to it, unlike Syaoran's purposefully-messily-styled hair.

He had a straight, tall nose, but it wasn't perfect. There was a little bump just slightly below the eye-level, as if it had been broken before.

In the long, white robe, he looked astonishingly handsome. If it weren't for his inward personality, he could have had a go in modelling.

Sakura suspected that he was pretty popular amongst the female doctors and nurses in the hospital.

"I don't understand why in America they let you skip your last 2 years of education to go straight to this internship, but since I can't defy my boss's orders, I guess I can't do anything about my dislike," he confessed.

"Follow me. There is a lot of paper work to do, today." A few nurses rose from their desks, bowing to him politely.

In the States, all doctorate students' education required 6 years of med school and 2 years of training. After Sakura completed her first 4 years of med school, her professors asked her if she wanted to return to Japan for her residence, since in Japan, only 4 years of education and 2 years of training were required.

She suspected that her brother was involved in this with his influence. Regardless, she took on the opportunity, for she wanted to escape her brother's protectiveness and perhaps retrace her past memories during her stay.

She never thought that anyone would say anything about her education, but now, her mentor had a bad impression of her. Great.

"Here's your desk. I want you to enter the information into our patient database before 6 today," he ordered Sakura, pointing at a desk topped with 50-something folders.

He was about to enter his room, which was directly beside her desk, when Sakura spoke, "I just wanted to tell you that even though I skipped the last two years of my education, this won't affect my performance."

He stayed silent for a few seconds with his back facing her, before he closed his office door shut. The four nurses gathered around Sakura's desk. The old nurse, who was the head, remained at her desk. She gave them a disapproving look but didn't say anything.

"This is supposed to be our job!" one of them flipped through the file and said sympathetically.

"Shin is always so cold. But, that's why we love him—" another babbled on.

"Who can blame him? His wife's death is too much on him," the third nurse, leaning against the side of the desk, explained.

Sakura's eyes shot up in surprise. "He's married?"

The nurse who was just talking turned to look at Sakura and replied sadly, "Yes. Well, he was until his wife died in a car accident 2 years ago, leaving him and their child."

Who knew that Sakura and Shin had something in common, losing someone they loved in a car accident. Only, the difference was that Sakura didn't have to go through all the emotional states since she lost her memory.

Sakura was starting to feel a bit sorry for him.

"How old is he?" Sakura asked, curiously.

The nurse who was leaning against her desk, tucked her wavy brown hair behind her ears and replied, "He's 27 this year." Seeing the look on Sakura's face, she added, "Yes, he married at a young age."

"You said he has a child, too? How old is he?"

The first nurse who talked said, "The kid is 4, I think. He's such a cutie. Shin acts completely different when he's around his son. Actually, he acts different whenever he's around children. So kind, so caring."

Sakura tried to picture Shin being nice and patient in front of his son. The image failed to appear.

"I can't believe that Li Syaoran' girlfriend is working in the same office as me!" the nurse with very pink lips exclaimed excitedly as she pulled out her phone. "I have to text my friends about this!"

Sakura laid a hand on her phone and said to her politely, "I hope you can keep this as a secret, not that it will last for long before the others spread the news."

The young woman obeyed and slipped the phone back into her pockets.

"Thank you," Sakura said, smiling. The girl blushed shyly.

"I think you and Syaoran make a great couple," the girl commented, her original loud voice muted to the maximum.

"Thank you."

The old nurse approached Sakura's desk and ordered the other nurses back to their own desks. "Miss Kinomoto, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mouri Akane, the head of the nurses in this department."

Sakura quickly stood up from her seat and bowed to Akane. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Mouri. Please just call me Sakura."

Akane nodded. "Only if you call me on first-name basis, as well."

"Yes, Akane," Sakura replied with a smile. She finally found someone likeable ever since she arrived at the hospital.

"He is a very strict, self-disciplined young man. He has never accepted any interns, so I am quite surprised that he did this time. Even though seems cold and emotionless, he is an admirably kind person. I wish you all the best. If you have any questions, please feel free to come and ask me," Akane said in her soothing voice. She reminded Sakura of her grandmother.

Sakura nodded in gratitude. Akane returned to her desk as did Sakura.

With a sigh, she picked one of the folders from the pile and began typing the information into the computer.

What would her life be like in the next six months? With a mentor who obviously hated her, a bunch of chatty colleagues who knew who she was, and a load of work already on the first day, her life was going to be miserable. Plus, she thought that her internship would mean the end of her pretence to be Syaoran's girlfriend, but now it seemed impossible.

Across from her desk, Akane bent down to pick up a pen that she accidentally dropped.

At least, there was a nice old nurse who Sakura could receive words of comfort from.

That day, she barely entered all the information in the folders on time. After Shin checked it and dismissed her, she hurriedly gathered her stuff and took the bus home.

She pigged down 2 plateful of food during dinner because she didn't have lunch. Working on an alternating day schedule, she hoped that the next time she worked at the hospital, she could finally do something that was actually related to her doctoral training.

With no such luck, Shin gave her more files to enter for the rest of Wednesday and Friday. She was starting to get fed up by all the unrelated work.

"Lunch, Sakura?" Aisha, the girl who had the pink lipstick on, asked as she pushed in her chair into the desk.

Sakura looked up from the computer and gave a sad smile, "No, thank you. I still have to get these done by 6."

Aisha and the other girls nodded. They each gave her a sympathetic pat on the back before going downstairs for lunch.

"Akane, have a good lunch!" Sakura called out to Akane when she waved goodbye to Sakura.

With Akane gone, Sakura was the only one left in their division.

There were 5 divisions in total in the children's department. Each took a shift off for lunch and night duties. When one division was out, the other four shared the responsibility of that division's patients.

Sakura looked around the empty office and sighed loudly, before going back to work. Even Shin was nowhere in sight.

Everything was quiet until soft footsteps of someone running down the hall. Sakura stood up from her seat and walked over to the counter to see who it was. The footsteps stopped, but she saw no one. She surveyed around the empty hall.

"Hi mommy!" a soft, slightly unclear voice sounded. Sakura's gaze dropped down to the floor of the other side of the counter to find a tiny boy with tiny black curls and big emerald eyes staring up at her, with an excited grin.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **I know it's weird for the author to say this, but SYAORAN AND SAKURA WERE SO CUTE IN THIS CHAPTER! ; ) I just love them so much. They are my favourite anime couple of all time! What about you? Anyways, in this chapter, we got a little flashback of Sakura's past. How do you think Syaoran and Sakura's relationship was like back then?

Also, we got to see Sakura's internship finally starting. Her mentor...seemed like a cold-blooded beast. I wonder if he really hated her? As for the tiny kid at the end of the chapter, who could it be? And why was he calling Sakura his mommy? 0.0 Well...if you come back for the rest of the story, perhaps you'll find out!

That's all for this week. I hope that you enjoyed that chapter! REMEMBER TO REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! KEEP 'EM COMIN'! ; D


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Good afternoon. I hope I'm no interrupting your lunch."

Syaoran walked into the brain surgeon's office to find a middle-aged man eating lunch quietly by himself. Everyone else went out for lunch without him, not because his colleagues hated him but because he was simply not the type of person who enjoyed public gatherings.

"I'm sorry, but it's lunch—"the man looked up from his well-prepared bento box and told Syaoran impatiently, not pretending to hide his displeasure of being interrupted.

"Perhaps you can make an exception for me," Syaoran asked as he took off his sunglasses and cap that kept him shielded when he entered the hospital.

The man's expression was indifferent at first but his eyes widened in surprise when he realized the identity of the man standing before him. Although he was not interested in the entertainment stuff, he knew who Syaoran was, since his face was plastered on every possible form of media out there.

The man quickly wiped any food residue off his moustache and mouth before walking over to greet Syaoran.

"I deeply apologize, , for interrupting your lunch. It's hard for me to sneak into the hospital to see you during any other time," Syaoran explained, shaking hands with the man, Fukomoto Kenji.

Just like Syaoran, Fukomoto was famous in his field of expertise. He was a brain surgeon who had performed miracles in the past, including the well-known case of Linda Hamasaki, a super model who was told by her doctors that she only had a few days to live from her brain concussion.

Fukomoto's success was widely-broadcasted across the country, and many rich people offered to invest in a private clinic for him. He had kindly rejected in the hope of offering his skills to the general public, who were less fortunate to afford private treatments.

Fukomoto nodded his head. "I understand your situation, . It's not a problem. What can I do for you?"

"I came here to ask you some questions regarding amnesia. I have a friend who lost her memory during a car accident, and I would like to help her gain back her memory. Are there ways to help her?" Syaoran told him.

Fukomoto nodded in understanding. "Although we have doctors who specialize in this area in the hospital, I do know some information about this that may help you. May I ask you, however, why you want to help her?"

Syaoran considered Fukomoto's question. Why _did_ he want to help Sakura? He even went out of his way to get the director to film his part first, so that he could rush to the hospital during lunch.

"She has been suffering from emotional insecurity. She feels like she doesn't belong, even when everyone around her loves her very much," Syaoran told him, still trying to figure out inside if this was really the reason that caused him to help.

Fukomoto gave a small smile. "I'm sure your friend can feel your love for her."

"Indeed, people who have amnesia usually suffer from low self-esteem or emotional insecurities. Their missing memory makes them feel left out. To combat this problem, the friends and the relatives of the patient could express their love for her in many ways and make her believe that the memory she'd lost will not change their love for her. This can reload her confidence, but will not necessarily help her get her memories back, like in your friend's situation."

Syaoran nodded. "So, is there anything else I can do to help her?"

"Yes, there are plenty. They will not guarantee one hundred percent success, but they have been proven to be the top contributors to memory regains. How did your friend lose her memory?"

"She and her mom got into a car accident 7 years ago. Her mom, unfortunately, died."

Fukomoto stayed silent for a few seconds to intake the information."The injury done to her head during the accident may have played a role in her memory loss, but we cannot eliminate the psychological reasons. She may be repressing her memory on purpose, and unconsciously, because she does not want to recall her mother's death."

Sakura blocking out her memory on purpose seemed like something she would do, even if she didn't know that she was doing it. In the past few weeks when they spent their time together, and in their high school days, he realized that her way of protecting herself was to act indifferent.

"In the past few weeks, she had gotten serious headaches. Do these mean anything?" Syaoran asked, recalling their photo shoot.

Fukomoto's eyes widened. "Yes…that could be a sign. Does she ever talk about what she sees when she get those headaches?"

Syaoran shook his head without hesitation. He didn't remember her telling him because he never asked. And even if he did, she wouldn't have told him, anyways.

"No…"

But then, he suddenly remembered a conversation they had on the night when he drove her back to the Daidouji mansion.

_"Oh, dear. It seems that my girlfriend doesn't hate me, anymore."_

_Did she really hate him less, now? "You're wrong," she said, staring out at the rows of trees, illuminated by street lamps._

_"Hm…?"_

_"I never hated you in the first place. It's just that whenever I see you, there are always images that suddenly fly into my head and cause me headaches. With your personality, it makes me dislike you even more," she explained. "It's just dislike, not hate."_

_"Oh, so now I'm like a shooting bullet that cause you headaches?" he joked._

_Sakura ignored his comment. "After spending the day with you, I realized that you're not as bad as I originally thought you were. I guess I don't dislike you, anymore, but that doesn't mean I like you, either," she continued._

_"If not friends, maybe we can be friendly business partners?" he asked. The car came to a halt in front of Tomoyo's mansion. Sakura noticed that Tomoyo's room lights were on, which meant that she had been back for quite a while. Syaoran purposefully drove slowly._

_"Of course," she replied with a smile. "Drive safely." She got out of the car walked towards the gate. Syaoran made sure she safely entered the mansion before driving off._

"I believe that something prominent had happened up until the car crash that was related to you. You are the trigger point to parts of her memory," Fukomoto concluded, after hearing Syaoran's story. Syaoran made sure to leave out the "girlfriend" part.

Syaoran didn't understand what he was talking about. How could he be the trigger point if he didn't even know she got into a car accident until 7 years later?

"You may be the only one who has the ability to trigger her memory. Use it as your advantage if you really want to help. But you have to be careful, though. If you are part of an unwanted piece of memory, your actions will bury her past even deeper into the back of her mind, until the point when she will never be able to retrace them, again."

* * *

"It must be your eyes. They really do look like the late 's eyes," a woman in her early sixty's said, more to herself. She stared at Sakura wonderingly.

Sakura was sitting across from her, busy wiping the corners of Michio's mouth of chocolate ice cream.

Yasahiro Michio was his name. He was the son of Sakura's mentor, Yasahiro Shin, and his deceased wife, Yasahiro Ayumi.

The air-conditioned ice cream parlour and the ice cream he was eating cooled him off greatly from the heat outside. The boy no longer had extremely red cheeks like when Sakura first saw him in the hospital. His natural curly bangs messily fell on his forehead as a result of his dried sweat.

"Thank you, mommy," he politely thanked Sakura for wiping his mouth clean. His diction was slightly unintelligible due to his young age. He looked up from his ice cream and grinned at Sakura. The little straight nose he had was just like his dad's, except there wasn't a bruised mark.

He scooped a spoonful of his ice cream and held it up to her. "Here, mommy!"

"It's okay, Michio. I like the strawberry flavoured ice cream better," Sakura told him gently, not wanting to correct him that she wasn't his mommy. After hearing from his babysitter's story about him asking for his mother all the time, she didn't have the heart to hurt the innocent child.

Michio didn't take his small hand away. Instead, he pouted and attempted to persuade Sakura. "But the chocolate one tastes really good, too!"

Michio's babysitter giggled. "Why don't you just take a bite? He wants to share everything he likes with you," the babysitter suggested in a whisper. Sakura looked at her and opened her mouth in defeat.

"Ahhhhh," Michio said as he delivered the spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. "Is it good?"

Sakura swallowed the creamy chocolate ice cream. "Yes," she said surprisingly. She was never a huge chocolate fan because it was too sweet, but the ice cream changed her view on it.

Michio's grin widened, his emerald-coloured eyes forming a line.

Michio waved with his spoon in the air when he saw his dad looking around the parlour. "Daddy!"

Shin, still in his white robe, paced to their table. "Michio!" he called his son in a voice that Sakura would have never imagined.

Michio jumped off of his chair and ran into Shin's arms. "Daddy! Mommy bought me ice cream!"

"Mommy?" Shin asked confusedly. He looked up to find Sakura nervously getting out of her chair as well and bowing to him.

"I'm sorry, . Michio came to the office at lunch to find you, but you weren't there. So, I took him out for ice cream," Sakura explained.

Shin's face softened. "Thank you, . I'm sorry for the trouble. I received a call from Michio's nanny that he wanted to visit me, so I came out early to buy ice cream. When I returned I didn't find them.

Looking at the nanny, he added,"Chihari, you may leave now. Thank you for today."

Michio's nanny bid farewell to Sakura, Shin, and Michio and left the parlour.

"Have you finished your ice cream, yet, Michio?" Shin asked softly to his son as he looked at the unfinished bowl of chocolate ice cream on the table.

"Not yet, daddy." Michio climbed onto his chair and continued eating the left-over of his ice cream. Sakura was going to sit across from her original seat, but Shin told her it was okay. "He seems to like you a lot."

"Yes, he calls me his mommy. Chihari says it's because of my eyes," Sakura said.

"They do."

Sakura looked at Shin. She knew she shouldn't be asking this question, but she couldn't keep it in anymore. "Is that why you dislike me?" The minute the question, more of an accusation, escaped her mouth, she immediately started to regret.

Shin eyes hardened, which added more to Sakura's distress. "What you look like has nothing to do with my dislike. It is your family background," he replied honestly.

Sakura frowned with confuse. "What are you talking about?"

"You are the daughter from a rich family. To be more exact, you are the daughter of one of the richest and most influential family in the world. I assumed that you skipped the last two years of your education as a result of your family power. I assumed that you came to Japan because you simply want to get the doctoral degree, without being serious towards this job. I also assumed that you were playing around with your family's power in society."

Shin's each and every word stabbed Sakura like a million knives. She was serious about her medical studies and was not taking advantage of her family powers to further her degree. She also had never chosen to come to Japan because she wanted to get around the full educational pathway of a doctor.

"How do you know who—"

"And with your brother, Kinomoto Touya, continuously donating money to our new Sick Children's program, it wouldn't be surprising if all my assumptions held the truth," Shin continued, with fury.

Sakura's mouth opened in astonishment."You mean, my brother was the one who helped with the creation of the program?"

"Yes, he was the one who proposed and supported the program. The board of directors of the hospital were ordered by him to place you in this program. They assigned you to me so that you will receive one-on-one teaching from me."

Now, it made sense to Sakura. Yasahiro Shin, the well-known doctor who never took in any interns, accepted her out of all people because of his brother's doing.

"I—"

"Like I said, I assumed all those things based on what was going on between the board of directors and your brother. But, I was wrong. After giving you all those files to enter into the database for the whole week, I realized that I judged you wrongly. You came early in the morning and work all the way till 6 in the evening, without going for lunch or breaks. Even when you were finished, you rechecked for mistakes. You were serious towards your work and did not complain. I apologize for assuming things so easily." Shin said and gave Sakura a small bow of apology.

It was weird to Sakura that Shin had observed her without her noticing. All she knew, while she was typing away, was that Shin was either in his closed office or out doing clinic checks.

"I can't blame you for thinking that, after what my brother has done without my acknowledgement. , I hope you can keep my family background a secret."

Shin nodded. "Yes, the executives and I are the only ones who know. We've sworn to keep this a secret."

"Thank you—"

"From next week onwards, the hands-on practices will officially start. But that does not mean you will no longer have to input patient data into the database."

Sakura replied, "I understand. I kind of realized that the computer work was something that all future doctors have to do, on my second day here."

Shin's eyebrow rose.

"As a doctor, we have to not only learn about the condition of our patients but also additional information, like family background, that could contribute to their illness. I realized on the second day that you giving me all that work was more for my benefit than for the purpose of you testing me," Sakura explained.

"Very observant, Miss Kinomoto. That's good," Shin replied approvingly.

"Mommy, daddy, I finished my ice cream," Michio tugged on Sakura's shirt and said. His other hand pointed at the empty fancy glass bowl.

"Michio, look at you. You've got chocolate all over your mouth, sweety," Sakura giggled as she reached for a napkin and wiped Michio's mouth clean. Shin watched her quietly from across.

"Do you want to eat anything else?" Sakura asked.

It was not even an hour of acquaintance between Sakura and Michio, but Sakura already felt like she knew the child for a long time. She felt the obligation to give him the care that he never got the chance to receive from his mother.

Michio shook his head. "No, thank you."

"He's so polite, sir. You've raised him well."

Clueless to Sakura, the hard expression kicked back into him just when she thought that their "mentor-teacher" relationship was having the slightest improvement.

"Michio," he said solemnly. " is not your mommy. You have to stop calling her that."

Michio's eyes began to water. It amazed Sakura how the emotions of a child could come and go so quickly.

"She is my mommy!" he cried. His tiny hands clutched tightly to Sakura's white dress shirt.

"No, Michio. We cannot be like this. Mommy has left us. She—"

Sakura shot her mentor a glare, which she knew was disrespectful. She quickly picked Michio up from his chair and rested him on her legs. "Michio, daddy is just playing around. Mommy came back because she missed Michio too much!"

She pulled him into a tight, protective hug. "Mommy is back. Don't cry," her soft words told him.

Michio sobbed quietly. She knew that he was trying hard to obey her.

"Miss Kinomoto, please don't be like this," Shin said. "It's not good for the child."

Sakura stared at Shin, coldly. "What I care about now, is the happiness of the child. He has never gotten any love from his mother. Why do you have to be so cruel?"

"Michio, honey," Sakura said to Michio. "Daddy wants to give you a plane ride if you stop crying. He's sorry for joking with you." She shot Shin a look that told him to follow what she said.

"Michio," he said, unwillingly, "Come on daddy's shoulders."

He bent down on the floor. With Sakura's help, they got Michio onto Shin's shoulders. Michio sniffed and quickly wiped away his tears.

"Up we go!" Shin slowly rose from the floor like an airplane taking off. Once he fully stood, Michio felt the full impact of the height and grabbed onto the top of his daddy's head. The other customers inside the ice cream parlour looked in their way. Some kids around the same age as Michio, tugged their parents' shirt and wanted a similar demonstration.

"Michio, you're so high up! Mommy can't reach you!" Sakura exclaimed.

They walked out of the cool ice cream parlour and onto the crowded streets.

"Michio, why do you look so sad?" Sakura asked, when she saw his old excitement diminishing. He was looking down sadly.

"Because, mommy and daddy aren't holding hands," he replied quietly.

Sakura looked at Shin and then back at Michio. She was always against people spoiling children, but when it came to Michio, none of it mattered. Why was she treating Michio so differently? Perhaps, she thought, it was because both of them lost their mother, and she wanted to compensate that loss for him while she had the ability to do so.

", you don't have to listen to him," Shin told her quietly. Sakura shook her head.

"Michio, I would love to hold hands with daddy, but he would have to let go of you if we hold hands. Are you scared of falling?"

Michio shook his head without hesitation. Shin released one of his hands that was securing Michio as Sakura took it. At the sight of their hands together, Michio instantly brightened up.

Even though it was a short walk from the ice cream parlour back to the hospital, it was still the best moment of Michio's life. While they crossed the parking lot to the back door of their department, Sakura noticed a black Porsche parked on the side of the building. She glanced over to find a person behind the steering wheel inside the car, his face unintelligible.

Suddenly, the driver came out of the car in a blue cap and sunglasses. He approached them with what seemed like a grim expression on his face.

Upon recognizing the man behind the disguise, Sakura slipped her hand out of Shin's loose hold, feeling a bit of guilt.

Syaoran spread his arms wide open and pulled Sakura into a tight embrace.

"Mommy, who's that?" Michio questioned, his voice shocked with uncertainty. Sakura fidgeted in Syaoran's iron hold.

"What the hell? Mommy?" he whispered sharply into her ears.

Sakura replied to Michio quickly, "H-He's a friend of mommy's while mommy was away on a trip."

As she was telling the child, she forcefully pulled herself away from him. Realizing Sakura's unwillingness, Syaoran released her.

"Michio, mommy has to go somewhere with her friend, right now. Let's go inside first, okay?" Shin cut in. He gave Sakura's "friend" a dangerous look. Behind his sunglasses, Syaoran equally did the same.

Sakura walked back to Michio and told him,"Honey. Mommy has something very important to do, tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Michio's expression faltered. He lowered his head disappointedly. "Be good, Michio," Shin warned. "You have to listen to mommy and daddy's instructions. Do you understand?"

Michio nodded hesitantly. He made a face to Syaoran.

"Miss Kinomoto, you may leave for today," Shin told Sakura.

"Yes, but I'll go in with you to get my stuff."

As the three of them were about to enter the backdoor of the hospital, Syaoran tagged along. "Stay here. You can't go into the hospital," Sakura turned to Syaoran and said, almost bumping into him along the way.

"It doesn't make a difference. I was already in there once today," he replied coldly.

"What were you doing at the hospital?"

"To do research for my next movie. Now, let me go in."

The four of them went back to their division. Thankfully, the place was empty because the nurses were all doing clinic checks.

When Syaoran felt it was safe enough, he removed his disguise. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Sakura's fi—no I mean, boyfriend, Li Syaoran," Syaoran introduced himself to Shin, extending his hand. He glanced over at Sakura, who was busy cleaning up her work area with Michio's help.

Shin mistook his look and immediately began to explain, "I'm sorry for causing you inconvenience. My son just happens to think that Miss Kinomoto is her dead mother. I will explain it to him, tonight."

Shin's misfortune took Syaoran by surprise. He stumbled inside on trying to find the most appropriate words."It's fine. Sakura has always liked kids. Last time she was telling me about wanting one of our own. I guess this was meant to be. How old is Michio, by the way?" Syaoran replied good-naturedly.

"He's four, this year."

"Ah, he's still so young but he seems like a very mature kid." _Ya right._

A few exchanges of words happened between the men before Sakura finished packing. "Be good, Michio. Mommy will see you soon," Sakura said to Michio as she got down on her knees so that they were at the same height.

"You promise?" His big emerald eyes gazed into hers. She became mesmerized by them, but managed to give him a nod.

Michio gave her an innocent grin and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck. Then, he planted a huge kiss on her lips.

"Sakura, the nurses are returning. We have to go," Syaoran pulled her up from behind.

Michio directed a glare at Syaoran before he pulled her out the back door.

_You little bastard! _

* * *

Syaoran wanted to talk to Sakura about her new role play once they got inside his car, but he left it till later because they were meeting Eriol and Tomoyo for dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Moonlight.

When they arrived, Tomoyo and Eriol were already in the private room that they booked, sitting next to each other and sharing the same menu.

During dinner, the four of them engaged in a friendly conversation, all the while leaving out Sakura's meeting with Michio. For Sakura, she wanted to tell Tomoyo in private when they got home. For Syaoran, he simply didn't feel like bringing the topic up.

At one point, Eriol proposed to Sakura an offer on being the spokesperson of a wedding planning company with Syaoran. Syaoran quickly rejected the offer, knowing that Sakura would not be willing to do it. To everyone's surprise, Sakura did the exact opposite. She agreed to the offer because it had a more than enough pay, which was exactly what she needed in order to be free of her brother's financial support.

She figured that it would be the first step to escape her brother's control over her own life.

After receiving Sakura's confirmation and, later, Syaoran's, Eriol told them that he will make a phone call tomorrow during work to the company.

Their dinner ended at around 9. Tomoyo was going to call her driver to come and pick Sakura and her up, but Syaoran stopped her before she could, telling her that he had something important to discuss with Sakura, and it was a good alone time for her and Eriol. Tomoyo blushed at his remark, but didn't reject the idea.

Syaoran left with Sakura first. Once Syaoran pulled out onto the street and safely driving away, he finally brought up the topic he had kept quiet all this time.

"Last Friday when I saw you, you were still Kinomoto Sakura, Li Syaoran's girlfriend. 7 days later when I see you again, you become the mommy of a 4 year-old child. Very nice variety of acting roles you have there, honey," he began in one of the annoying tone of voice that Sakura despised. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to talk about the issue, seriously. He realized that a show of solemnity meant that he was weak and was bothered by the issue.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have held Shin's hand in public," Sakura apologized sincerely. The unsettling feeling inside of Syaoran was suddenly calmed by her unexpected words.

"I'm glad you realize how dangerous that was."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't want to, but Michio was on the verge of crying, so I had to do something!"Sakura explained. She was almost pleading for his understanding, which was quite absurd on her side.

Her words played inside his head repeatedly. _I didn't want to…I didn't want to…I did—_

Why was he so happy by her words? He mentally slapped himself.

"What is so special about the kid anyways, other than the fact that you two creepily share the same eye colour?" Syaoran asked, casually. Inside, he was actually dying to know because the kid having the same eye colour as Sakura just didn't settle well with him.

"Because both of us lost our mothers."

The simple answer was more than enough for Syaoran. Although he never lost anyone he loved, he knew that there was always a connection between people who had lost their loved ones.

The rest of the ride home was silent, but neither of them felt uncomfortable by it.

When Syaoran's car came to a halt in front of Tomoyo's mansion, he reminded Sakura,"I forgot to tell you. There's an evening gala to raise money for cancer research tomorrow. I will come to pick you up in the morning for the preparations, okay?"

"WHAT?" Sakura stopped on the stairs and swiftly turned to look at him. "You never mentioned this!"

"Well, now I have. You have to come to this one. It will be our first appearance at a public event together," Syaoran said.

Sakura sighed in defeat. Originally, she had planned tomorrow as a job-hunting day, but it seemed like the plan had to be post-poned again.

"Fine," she groaned as she walked into the mansion.

"Good night to you too," Syaoran called out.

* * *

On his way back to his condo, he received a text message from his cousin, Meiling Li.

_My dear cousin : ) It's been a long time since we've talked. Just a kind reminder that next week will be your father's 60__th__ birthday. If you dare not to show up, I will turn your life into hell…_

_Love,_

_Meiling 3_

He scanned through the text once and dragged it into the trash bin.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **Thank you for reading! You may be wondering why I didn't put a note at the beginning of this chapter...it's because this is a revised version of Chapter 14. I'm just too lazy to rewrite, or even copy and past, what I wrote for the first edition onto this copy! LOLL. Anyways, tell me how you think about our new little Michio ; ) It seems like our Syaoran is starting to act weird...or extremely out of his character because of Michio and his father, Shin! ;p

P.S. You may have noticed that there are some weird mistakes, like double commas or something, in this chapter. There's supposed to be a name in between those commas, but I don't know why the name doesn't show. Please forgive me. I am trying my best to fix it, but it seems like the document viewer on doesn't like me ;s But, if you know who the speaker is and who the speaker is talking to, then the missing names won't be a big deal.

REMEMBER TO REVIEWWWWWWW! ; )


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

"Good evening, this is Kato Makio from CBS reporting live at the red carpet of our annual national Gala for Cancer event, hosted by the Institution of Cancer Research," a woman announced into the camera in front of her. "It is five in Tokyo. To my right is the banquet hall where tonight's event will take place. All the elites are slowly arriving as I speak."

The cameramen followed Makio's direction and captured the scene around them. Like Makio and her crewmen, the other reporters and fans were blocked out of the main staircase leading into the banquet hall, by elegant red ribbons and scary-looking security guards.

Because Makio was from CBS, one of the largest television networks in Japan, she gained the exclusive spot at the bottom of the staircase, where she would be the first to greet the high-profile attendees.

" Tonight's program includes an auction to raise money for the research program and a dinner in the dining hall. This year, the most anticipated star guests include Linda Hamasaki, Akanishi Kenji, who recently beat 25 other male celebrities on the 100 Most Beautiful and claimed the second spot on the chart, our beloved Li Syaoran and many, many more. There have been speculations on whether he will attend this year's event solo, like always, or attend with his new girlfriend and modelling partner, Kinomoto Sakura. After he and his girlfriend's recent kiss on the runway of Daidouji Inc.'s fashion show, rumours say that the two are soon walking down the aisle. If Syaoran is coming to this event with Sakura, will this confirm any of the rumours…? Tell us what you think on our website—"

Makio's voice was suddenly topped by hysterical fans. Her cameramen quickly turned the devices to the arriving limo.

"This is it! It's Li Syaoran's limousine!" Makio exclaimed, unable to hide her own excitement.

At their reaction, the security guards tensely formed two lines of man-wall on each side, preparing to take out anyone who dared to perform misconduct.

* * *

"…Yes, mommy will see you on Monday, okay?" Sakura said into the phone, her voice uncharacteristically gentle in Syaoran's opinion. Seated beside her in the limo, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. He couldn't believe that a four year-old could be so naïve to think that Sakura was his mother, even after he saw clips of Sakura and Syaoran kissing and hugging on TV.

His chauffer turned to him from the front and told him that they had arrived. Syaoran nodded in response, before taking a peek through the tinted window.

He mouthed to Sakura and pointed out the window to warn her of their arrival.

"Mommy has to go to work, now! I love you too." Then, she hung up her phone.

"Working?" Syaoran asked with a raised eyebrow. He certainly didn't consider tonight's event to be "work."

Sakura looked at him and shrugged. "Isn't it? I'm only here to play my part as your partner for the night."

Syaoran felt a tinge of disappointment from her words, but he decided to let it go

"This is crazy," Sakura commented with disgust. "It's a gala to raise money for cancer research. Why is everyone acting like it's an award ceremony or something?"

Since the early hours in the morning, she had reluctantly passed her time in a spa and hair salon for the preparations of this event. She felt more like going to the Oscars than to a Cancer Gala.

"Not everyone thinks so innocently as you, Sakura. Most of the guests came just for the publicity, but since they want to make headlines, they are naturally the ones who contribute the most amount of money," Syaoran replied. As he talked, he fixed the collar of his navy dress shirt.

"Then what about you?"

"I'm just like them," he replied. Whether he was joking or not, Sakura couldn't tell.

The door was opened by the chauffer from the outside. Syaoran stepped out first.

Once Sakura was out of the car, she was amazed by the magnificence of the red carpet. Standing there, she felt it was as perfect as it looked on TV, perhaps even better. For once she realized that the TV didn't tell lies.

The on-watchers were stunned by Sakura's beauty. It was evident on their faces as their gazes followed her and Syaoran's every step. Syaoran eyed Sakura and smiled proudly to himself. The woman standing beside him was a goddess from heaven. Her slim body was wrapped by a floor-length purple dress with an off-shoulder sleeve. Her beautiful auburn locks were straightened, resting on her shoulders, and swept in place to her left with a beautiful pin. Her lips were rouge.

According to Syaoran's personal stylist, who dressed Sakura up for the evening, Sakura's born-to-be image was the sexy type, therefore, most of her public appearances were styled to be that way.

Personally, he didn't really care what his stylist put on Sakura. However, today's dress that showed off most of her back was a little too much for his liking. He wondered why Sakura didn't complain when the dress was slipped onto her.

"How do you feel about coming to this event, Syaoran?" Makio asked, her face flushed.

Syaoran gave her his dazzling smile. "It's a pleasure to be here."

"And you, Sakura? It's your first time at this event, and not to mention with Li Syaoran. What are some of the emotions going through you, right now?" Makio asked Sakura, turning her microphone to her.

As much as she wanted to tell her how stupid Makio's question was, Sakura didn't. Syaoran probably sensed her urge because his arm that was wrapped around her waist tightened, as if to warn her not to lose her control.

"It's exciting. I did a lot of charitable work in New York," Sakura said, smiling.

Makio nodded, turning to Syaoran slightly to direct the question at both of them.

"After Syaoran's kiss on the runway, there have been speculations that the two of you will soon get married. Do you have any comments on that?"

Beside Sakura, Syaoran released a short chuckle. He sounded as if he were amused by the topic, when really, it stated his team's well-preparedness on public speaking.

"Those are just rumours. I guess as new couples, our blood is constantly under high temperature when we're next to each other. On the runway that night, I couldn't resist the urge to kiss her. I'm sure you saw how beautiful she was," Syaoran replied charismatically. He purposefully pulled Sakura closer to his side as he spoke, closing the already non-existent distance. "Sakura yelled at me afterwards for my public display of affection."

In fact, Sakura didn't say anything about the kiss after Syaoran carried her off the runway. She was already used to all the sudden kisses in public, given by Syaoran when he felt the most appropriate. She was so used to it that she didn't even realize when the old no-contact fake kisses were replaced by real lip-to-lip ones.

Sakura was red, although she knew his response was all part of a script.

" Yes, she was very stunning on the runway. But, do you have plans on getting married?" Makio pressed on.

"Like I said before, we've only started dating like a month ago. We still don't know which direction this is heading ."

"I wish the best to the two of you. Please have a wonderful time, tonight," Makio said. She turned to her cameramen and reported, "This is CBS, interviewing live with Li Syaoran and Kinomoto Sakura."

Syaoran and Sakura thanked the woman and began to walk up the stairs. Every step they took resulted in more screaming from the fans. Their hands were stretched out, eagerly waiting for a lucky handshake. Syaoran and Sakura waved to them, while Syaoran high-fived many of their hands.

They stopped here and there to pose for the cameras.

* * *

When they finally entered the banquet hall with hanging chandeliers, Sakura released a sigh of relief.

"You seem to be getting used to this," Syaoran praised.

"Not really."

The two were the first scheduled to arrive on the red carpet, so the hall was still empty. They were led by two staff members into the auction room, where all the items that were going on auction were put on display.

Antiquities dated back to the Baroque Era, famous paintings by Monet and Picasso, personally hand-made clothes by famous designers, like Christian Dior, were only some of the valuable items. To Sakura, they were interesting to look at, but if she had the money, she would not place a bid on them.

She looked around the room, while Syaoran engaged in friendly conversations with an elite that just arrived. One particular item, placed in the most unnoticeable place on the lowest glass shelf, caught Sakura's attention. It was a large painting of a girl.

The girl was about 16 and hairless, sitting on a hospital bed. A gray tuque was worn on her head to disguise her hairlessness. She looked skinny and fragile, with hollow cheeks, a direct impact by whatever sickness she was tormented by.

What captured Sakura's attention were her brown eyes. Despite her illness, the girl's eyes were glistening with hope and determination. Her posture further emphasized that sense of determination. It seemed as if she were ready to fight off the devil that haunted her.

Sakura felt a sense of connection and respect towards the girl. She bent her knees onto the floor and dropped her gaze to the slip that described the painting.

_Title: Hope_

_A self-drawn portrait by the late Masamoto Yuuki, before her death. She was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 13. She had fought hard for 3 years, both physically and spiritually, to combat the disease, but in the end, the devil took her away. Masamoto painted this during her last few months of living, in hope of delivering her message to all the cancer patients around the world: "Don't lose your sense of hope no matter what happens."_

_Starting Bid: $100,000_

Sakura reread the price of the painting 3 times. She wanted to buy the painting, but the price was too much. And it was only the starting bid. She suspected that this painting was going to be a huge hit. By the end of the auction, this item might be worth millions of dollars.

She got up from the floor, took one last look at the painting and headed in Syaoran's direction. _I could get Touya to pay for this…_The thought was quickly tossed away when she realized the consequence of using Touya's money. It would mean that she gave in to his protectiveness and was dependent on his money.

Syaoran was surrounded by a few females. One of them was extremely tall, barely a few centimetres shorter than Syaoran himself. She was in a white mini dress that accentuated her extremely long legs. Her soft brown waves ended slightly below her chest.

"This must be Sakura," she said with a friendly smile when she saw Sakura. Everyone in the loose circle turned to stare at her, as Syaoran closed his distance and embraced her around the waist with one arm.

"Yes, she is," he replied, giving Sakura a peck on the cheek. Sakura tried to push him away, all the while gaining giggles from the women.

"How come you were never like this when we dated?" the beautiful woman asked accusingly with that perfect-teeth smile.

Sakura froze.

"I did, just not when you were awake," Syaoran replied, jokingly. It was the first time Sakura heard Syaoran talk about things related to his love life. The woman giggled, again. Sakura felt as if she was missing out on some inside joke.

Syaoran told Sakura, "This is Linda Hamasaki, Asia's number one beauty and super model."

Linda gave Sakura a hug that was a little awkward with Syaoran's arm in the way. "Syaoran likes to exaggerate, but somehow I still foolishly feel flattered by his words. I'm sure you get annoyed by his constant sweet-talks."

"You're right, he's always so irritating," Sakura agreed, returning her smile. She liked Linda's friendly personality. She found Linda's behaviour suited her title as a super model, well. Linda was completely different than the amateur, Rena.

Syaoran raised his eyebrow. "So the two of you are ganging up on me, now?"

"Yea, Syaoran. That's what you get for dumping me," Linda said. Sakura was surprised that Linda was talking about it freely, especially in front of so many others.

She added, "If he dares to break your heart, then tell me, Sakura. I will make sure that no one in this industry will go out with him, anymore." Syaoran shook his head, while Linda gave Sakura a wink.

Sakura was appreciative of Linda's support, but she knew she won't be needing her help because there won't be broken hearts in her relationship with Syaoran. The deal was fake, anyways. Nonetheless, she thanked her.

"If our relationship hadn't ended, you won't be walking down the aisle with that millionaire this September," Syaoran defended. At hearing his words, Sakura noticed the diamond ring on her left hand.

Linda blushed at the mentioning of her engagement.

Sakura was impressed. Linda was only 27, but both her love life and career were already so successful. "Congratulations," Sakura said.

"Where is he, anyways?" Syaoran asked, searching around the room. A millionaire like Linda's finance was guaranteed a spot on the guest list.

"He's out of the country this week. I came on his behalf," Linda explained.

"You're not even marr—"

Syaoran's words were cut off when a sudden movement occurred in the auction room. Most of the female attendees, including the ones who were in Syaoran's circle, paced excitedly towards the entrance door.

Sakura was curious about the commotion, while Linda shook her head disappointedly and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Akanishi causes a stir everywhere he goes, these days. Last time when I was in Hong Kong shopping, he came with his entourage and attracted a whole crowd of fans. I was forced to leave the area immediately for safety purposes. I didn't even get to go to Ye Xiang."

Syaoran gave a low chuckle. "You should've thanked him for saving you money and breaking a bad habit."

Linda glared at him. "No, I should not thank him because he made me waste a plane ticket. I wasn't even there for work, that time."

"Don't hate on him. If the great Linda Hamasaki is acting like this, think about the reactions from the other celebrities. Think about how much people hate on us."

"At least we go out in public, undetected. He purposefully goes out in public and makes the streets go crazy."

At the same time, both Sakura and Syaoran were reminded of the first time they went on a date in Tokyo downtown, trying to capture the attention of the paparazzi.

Syaoran could only nod as his response.

"Speaking of which, I heard he's a really manipulative person. Last time when I saw the chart, I was shocked that he made such a wide jump from the 26th to the second place. All he did was he slept with Chizuko and then he made headlines everywhere. He can't even act, for God's Sake. You have to be careful of him, or else your four-year-in-a-row place will be stolen as well."

Syaoran shrugged. "He can if he wants to. I need a break, anyways. It's harder to maintain a spot than to climb up the chart." Sakura rolled her eyes at what she thought was his arrogance.

Linda's beautiful face tensed into a frown. "You haven't changed a bit, always acting like you don't care."

"That's the trick, Linda," Syaoran smiled. "Taking everything calmly is my style. There's no need to waste my emotions on useless things."

Sakura never got to see what the Akanishi person looked like because the female crowd never dispersed until the beginning of the auction.

* * *

Once all the attendees took their seats in front of the podium, the auction began. Although Sakura found it quite boring, she didn't complain and just sat there watching the speaker's constant hammering as the prices for each item flew up twice the starting bid.

Sitting on her right was Linda. She bid on a Henry VIII Era's vase for $1.5 million but was outbid by another lady for a price of $2 million. However, the lady didn't get the vase, either. The bidding kept on increasing until an aged man from the back bought it for $15 million.

Sitting on her left was Syaoran. Throughout the auction, he yawned over ten times. At one point, Sakura whispered to him, "Aren't you going to place a bid? What if you make the cheapest star list in the newspapers, tomorrow?"

Syaoran covered his yawn with a fist before smiling half-crookedly. "Since when do you care about my reputation?" he whispered back, amused.

"I don't. I'm just worried that they might associate me to your cheapness," Sakura replied, turning away from him. She watched as two men dressed in black suits picked up the painting of the girl and stood beside the podium.

"The painter is a cancer patient who passed away early this year. She donated this painting to our Institution in the hope of contributing to cancer research. The starting bid is $100, 000."

The second the speaker was done talking, a person from behind Sakura's row yelled out "$100, 000."

Another one who sat in the same row as Sakura yelled, "$150,000."

Slowly, the price value of the painting began to increase as more people placed their bids. Sakura's hands tensed into a fist. She had the urge to put up her hand and yell out her own bid, but the consequences that would follow afterwards were stopping her. If she did place her bid, the public will question her family background. Why in the world would a 22 year-old university student have so much money? Another problem was her brother. Before leaving the event, she had to pay up. She could just make a phone call to him and tell him to transfer money into the Institution's account. The only problem with that was it meant her giving in to his brother's control. She didn't want that to happen because she knew that he will use this against her.

Linda's voice brought Sakura back to reality. "$300,000."

Sakura couldn't help but stare at Linda. "The painting is incredible. I have to own it," she explained, smiling.

Now, that was another reason added to her list of why she can't place a bid. After Linda's bid, a man from the first row called out, "$500,000."

Linda cursed under her breath. "$550,000."

Sakura was considering whether she should borrow money from Syaoran and pay him back on a monthly fee. She peaked at him from the side of her eye. He was looking ahead at the speaker, oblivious to her desperation, and yawned again. This time, there were tiny drops of tears forming in his eyes. He wiped them away with one of his fingers. She sighed softly and gave up on the thought of purchasing the artwork.

A different man, with noticeable red hair sitting directly in front of Sakura, raised his hand and called out, "$750,000."

Linda cursed, again. "$800,000."

After Linda, no one else placed any more bids. The speaker spoke into his microphone, "$800,000! $800,000! Anyone else?" He looked around the room, but no one else raised their number.

"Eight hundred thousand dollars going once. Eight hundred thousand dollars going twice. Eight hundred—"

Before the speaker hammered, Syaoran raised his hand with his number card. "$2,000,000."

Everyone from the rows in front of his row turned around and looked at him with widened eyes. Sakura 's reaction was no different. She sat there, unmoving.

It was Linda who broke the silence in the room. "Syaoran, are you serious?" It was more of a question out of curiosity than an accusation for topping her bid.

"Yeah. If you want to continue, I'm more than willing to comply," he replied casually. Linda scrutinized him for a few seconds and finally gave in with a shrug. "Yeah, yeah. You can have it."

Syaoran grinned. "Thanks."

The speaker finalized, "2 million dollars going once. 2 million dollars going twice. SOLD to Mr. Li Syaoran!"

The painting rounded off the auction session. Everyone left for the dining hall while the people who purchased an item stayed behind to fill in the cheque and delivering address. Sakura and Linda left with the others, first.

* * *

"Where did Sakura go?" Syaoran asked Linda when he finished with the auction business.

Linda stopped talking to a friend sitting beside her and told him, "She went to the washroom a few minutes ago."

"Oh." Syaoran took a seat beside Linda, saving the seat on his other side for Sakura.

"So, the painting was for her, huh?" Linda asked.

Syaoran nodded with hesitation. "Was it that obvious?"

"The others probably think you're just crazy for spending 2 million dollars on a painting painted by a child. Monet is not going to rest in peace," Linda joked. "I saw you staring at her when she was looking at the painting."

Syaoran smiled. "Then I should thank you for giving the painting to me."

"Don't misunderstand. I'm only doing this for Sakura."

"Well, I guess you'll receive your thanks from her tomorrow when the painting's delivered to her house," Syaoran said, taking a sip of his wine.

"You haven't told her yet?"

"Nope. For all she cares, I'm just trying to make headlines, so that I don't have the title of 'Cheap Star.'"

Linda giggled. "She's so cute." She stared at Syaoran quietly before adding, "You love her so much."

* * *

"Do you think Syaoran bought that painting for his girlfriend?" Running water played in the background.

"I don't think so. He's had so many girlfriends. If he's going to spend so much money on all of them, he is probably broke by now. And they just started dating. He can't be falling so deep in love with her that he's willing to spend 2 million dollars on her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Even my husband won't spend that much on me."

"Anyways, I heard that his father's birthday is next week. Maybe he's buying it for him. You know how his father is known to be picky when it comes to gifts."

The two girls who were talking left the washroom shortly after fixing their hair and makeup. Sakura flushed the toilet and went over to the sink to wash her hands. She fixed her hair, gave herself one more look in the mirror and left the washroom.

Syaoran's final callout was unexpected. She thought that he was going to sit through the entire auction without participating, but it turned out to be something different. He ended up grabbing the most attention by purchasing a piece of artwork by a 16 year-old girl.

Then, she remembered his words in the car. He had said that celebrities came to make headlines. Ironically, he had transformed his words into action.

She didn't like that he was purchasing to make headlines. However, the good deed that he did was undeniable. His 2 million dollars will go to good use for the cancer research.

"Hello, sexy," a man's voice said seductively, in the dim corridor.

Sakura turned to her left to find a man with fiery red hair winking at her. Sakura recognized the hair from the man sitting in front of her during the auction, who also placed a bid on the painting. His face was extremely small, an awkward component, compared to his muscular body. He was leaning against the wall, shoulders crossed over his chest.

He looked like he had been waiting for quite some time for her. She didn't like the feeling he gave off and decided to walk past him without a reply.

"Don't you think it's rude to ignore me when I so politely greeted you?" the man followed closely behind Sakura, a strong smell of alcohol was present.

"I'm sorry. I don't talk to strangers," Sakura replied. She was never comfortable with flirty people, especially when they were drunk.

"I've watched you all day. You are one beautiful woman. Why don't you leave Li Syaoran and come to me, instead?"

"Excuse me, we're not filming a drama here," Sakura reminded him.

The man managed to catch up to Sakura, walking beside her. He grinned. "You're so interesting. You deserve a better man." His arm quickly snaked around Sakura's bare back and landed his cold palm right in the centre.

"Don't touch me!" Sakura warned, abruptly pulling away from him. She glared dangerously into his eyes, while his devilish smile remained.

At that moment, a tall figure approached Sakura from behind and punched the drunk man in the face.

"What the—" He stumbled before dizzily regaining his balance.

Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand. "I'm warning you, now. It won't be just a punch next time if you dare to touch her again!" he warned angrily.

He then pulled Sakura through the watching crowd towards the back door of the building.

"Toshihiro, drive the car to the back parking lot," he told his chauffer crisply through the phone, on the way out.

When they were out in the parking lot, Sakura withdrew her hand from his. "Why did you do that? There were so many people watching!" she exclaimed. Why was she feeling so worried?

"You just punched him while so many reporters were around!"

"He was touching you all over the place! Do you want that?" Syaoran retorted. She had never seen him so angry before.

"I could have pushed him off myself. Why do you care if he touches me, anyways?" She said those words, hoping to inform him indirectly on how stupid his move was, but the words made her sound even stupider.

_Obviously he did it so that he looked like the heroic boyfriend in front of the media. _

Syaoran slowly calmed down and tried to answer her question inside his head. The obvious answer, "I care because if I let him go for touching you like that in public, I will be bad-mouthed as a horrible boyfriend and it will harm our contract," no longer seemed like a suitable one.

He thought back to the way Kenji was touching Sakura, the worry he felt when Sakura didn't return from the washroom, the conversation with Linda, the expensive auction purchase, the jealousy he felt towards Sakura's mentor and his bratty son, the hospital visit with Fukomoto, the kiss on the runway at Daidouji's show, the confrontation with Rena, the photo shoot in Yokohama, the press conference, the sleepover at Sakura's grandparents' house, the first dinner meeting at Thousand Island…

All of these events summed up to one answer that he was now certain about.

"Because I'm in love with you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

"Because I'm in love with you."

The words flew out of Syaoran's mouth with certainty, a sense of sureness that he never anticipated. His confession was almost similar to a confession of a mother's "I love you" to her child. Because the love was so obvious, it seemed almost unneeded.

Flashbacks of Sakura and Syaoran's high school memories appeared in his head. The words that he had failed to say back then finally came after a long delay.

Sakura's heart stopped for a tenth of a second before she realized how foolish she was. There was no way that he was serious. Why was someone like him, who constantly teased her and planned every one of his moves ahead manipulatively, saying something like that to her? What was he planning on doing now?

The best expression she could give was a suspecting glare.

"If you're thinking that I'm planning something ridiculous, then you're wrong," he said, guessing her thoughts. He was slightly irritated that she could be so naïve.

But then again, he wasn't surprised that she responded him with a glare. After all, he had been playing the role of a jerk in the past few weeks.

"Then what _are_ you trying to do?" Sakura asked, getting impatient.

He heaved a sigh. "All I'm trying to do is to confess my love to you. But your suspecting nature is stopping me from getting the point across," he replied, cupping her face with his hands. Slowly, he moved his lips towards hers.

Sakura stood there obediently and closed her eyes, not knowing if she was naturally slipping into her role or actually desiring the touch of his lips.

The latter scared her.

"I think you are in love with me too, Kinomoto Sakura," he whispered when his lips were just a few millimetres away from hers. His warm breath sent a tingly feeling on her skin.

She snapped her eyes open to find his amber orbs staring amusedly into hers, with a smirk playing on his face, before shoving him away from her.

"So this is your plan? You want to play with my feelings like how you did with Linda and Rena and who knows how many more?" she shouted.

Syaoran was taken aback by her outburst. He didn't know why his usual jokes made her this angry. He took a step forward, wanting to explain, but a loud commotion from behind distracted him.

Reporters back in the dining hall rushed out of the door that Syaoran and Sakura had just exited from like an angry mob. Cameramen followed their steps closely behind.

Fortunately, Syaoran's limo arrived in time before the reporters could reach them. Grabbing Sakura's hand in a hurry, he pulled her towards the limo. With a swift motion, he opened the door and helped Sakura in quickly before he climbed in himself.

"Nice save," Syaoran complimented the chauffer. Their tiny escapade had saved their lives."Daidouji Residence, please."

After that, Sakura and Syaoran never got a chance to continue their topic during the ride because Syaoran was busy phoning Hikari about his incident. During most of his conversation with Hikari, the phone never once touched his ear, for Hikari's angry shrills made it impossible for him to keep it within a safe hearing distance. Even Sakura, who had managed to sit as far from Syaoran as possible heard bits of Hikari's complaints.

"…BASTARD..."

"…OFF OF WORK!"

"…ALL NEWS NETWORK AND NEWSPAPER COMPANIES…FUCK…"

Sakura agreed with every creative word Hikari managed to pull off. Before, her admiration for Hikari was merely due to the fact that she was a dedicated single-mother, but now Sakura admired Hikari for her courage to defy and insult her own boss.

"And that's why I can only count on you, Hikari. My love for you is—"Hikari hung up the phone on Syaoran before he had a chance to finish.

The rest of the ride was silent without Hikari's voice. Sakura didn't want to talk to Syaoran and glued her eyes to the view outside. Every minute she spent inside the car with Syaoran was torture.

When the car came to a halt, Sakura was eager to jump out, but Syaoran's hand landed on her shoulder before she could move.

"Sakura…about what I said in the parking lot tonight. I meant every word."

Without looking at him or giving a response, she quietly exited the limo.

* * *

Tomoyo was propped up on a long sofa in the upstairs living room when Sakura arrived at Daidouji Residence, with a nice cup of cappuccino in hand. Her Saturday Night Special, a collection of the season's hottest trends.

She turned the dimmed lights on with a remote as Sakura walked into the room.

"Did something happen between you and Syaoran?" she asked, alert by the pissed off expression on Sakura's face. She sat up straight and placed the cup on the lamp stand.

At that moment, Sakura wanted to spill everything to Tomoyo, but logic stopped her. How weird would it seem to Tomoyo if Sakura was mad about Syaoran's jokes? She was too exhausted to think up a logical story that could flow well with the truth.

So, she shook her head slowly and replied a simple, "It's nothing. Stupid jokes he made."

Tomoyo wasn't convinced, and Sakura knew that she didn't as well. However, Tomoyo didn't pressure her.

"I'm sure he meant no harm. You look dead exhausted. Go to sleep. If you want to talk about it later, I'm always here for you like before." Tomoyo said.

With a nod, Sakura returned to her own room.

That night, she tossed and turned on her bed. She replayed Syaoran's confession inside her head, but by the end of it all, she still concluded that he meant nothing by his words.

Weird as it may seem, Sakura's last thoughts before she fell asleep turned into worries about how the press would portray Syaoran in the headlines tomorrow.

* * *

"They've agreed to take down all the pictures and articles regarding your incident," Eriol said, putting his phone down on the dining table after almost two hours of continuous phone callings to various media groups and his staff members. "You're safe for tomorrow's newspapers too, but the damage is already done. Before the pictures were taken off of the websites, Hikari said the hits were in the millions."

He pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Thank goodness you purchased that painting. We could use that as a cover story."

"Thanks," Syaoran replied nonchalantly from the couch, as he flipped through the channels lazily.

"And yet, you still don't understand the severity of the situation."

"I do, but what can I do when it's already happened? And, I know you and Hikari will take care of it nicely for me."

Eriol shook his head disappointedly and got up from his chair. "Because of you, the entire company went into a frenzy. Why make our lives that much harder, Syaoran?"

"I'll treat everyone to lunch, tomorrow. Don't worry, you'll receive extra benefit for letting me stay over."

Eriol rolled his eyes. He joined Syaoran on the sofa and watched the moving figures on TV without really paying attention.

After dropping Sakura off at Daidouji Mansion, Syaoran came to Eriol's place instead of his own to avoid the waiting press.

"Did something happen between you and Sakura at the gala?" Eriol questioned curiously, arms crossed over his chest. Ever since Syaoran got to his place, he had been acting weird.

"Tomoyo called to ask a while ago too. She says Sakura's very pissed off," Eriol added.

Without hesitating, Syaoran told Eriol the story. His eyes never once left the TV as he did.

After he was finished, the two men were silent. Eriol was impressed that Syaoran finally realized his feelings for Sakura. He analyzed the situation before concluding, "Why do you think she got mad?"

Syaoran shrugged. "It was like an outburst. Maybe she had her period."

Eriol sighed. Obviously Syaoran cared deeply inside, but he was acting foolish on purpose.

"Now, I'm only making a wild assumption, but from the looks of it, she may have feelings for you too," Eriol said thoughtfully.

Syaoran turned his head swiftly to his friend with widened eyes.

"Think about it. The two of you have been together for more than a month now, and I'm sure she has already gotten used to your jokes. It would be stupid for her to be offended. At the time when you confessed, she may have believed your words. But then when you made that stupid comment, she recoiled. You basically got her hopes up and then destroyed it all with your words…"

Syaoran was ear-picking parts of Eriol's words. It made sense. If she didn't have feelings for him, she wouldn't have had the outburst. Instead, she would have just rolled her eyes and ignored his comments. A smile appeared on his face.

"That's why I always say she's a person scared of showing her vulnerability," Syaoran said musingly.

"Don't get your hopes up. I said it was only an assumption," Eriol warned. He was happy for his friend, after the things he'd gone through in high school, but he had a feeling that Syaoran didn't fully understand his love for Sakura. Right now, he only unearthed the surface.

"Assumption or not, it makes sense to me. Even if she's the hardest woman to understand on earth, she can't be that different from the other women."

"What do you plan on doing, now?" Eriol asked.

Syaoran paused. "I…I will give her some time to think about it. The filming is in its last two weeks. They're trying to make the deadline for the August nomination list. Other than that, the schedule for the entire week is packed with commercial shooting and photo shoots. So, she can have some time to think it through."

Eriol nodded approvingly. Even though it was Syaoran's first time being serious in a relationship, he was able to make reasonable decisions.

"Next Saturday is your father's birthday. I've told Hikari to move your schedule for Friday through Sunday to the week after," Eriol said, suddenly remembering the huge event.

Syaoran's grin disappeared in an instant at the mentioning of his father. "I never said I was going."

Eriol frowned. "Syaoran, it's your _Father_. You have no choice to make."

"What, do you secretly work for them?" Syaoran accused, although he knew the answer to that already.

"I'm helping you right now. Meiling and I are as frustrated as you are, trying to make you cooperate. I'm going to tell you in advance, if you try to escape to Korea or anywhere else this time, don't try. We're confiscating your passport and adding your name to the flying blacklist."

Frustrated, Syaoran ran his hand through his hair. Being in the same room as his parents or anywhere else with their presence was a claustrophobic torture for him.

"Just go back to Hong Kong for three days and you're free for the rest of the year," Eriol convinced.

"I'll make sure to commit suicide before then."

Eriol gave him a confident smile. "You won't because you will end up going willingly. I can assure you."

* * *

Early morning, the Daidouji Residence received a large painting packaged in brown wrapping paper. The delivery man said that the recipient of the painting was Kinomoto Sakura.

When the maids called Sakura down to sign the package, she was both surprised and confused.

She asked to check the mailing address and the sender of the painting. The man confirmed that the address was correct and the sender was Li Syaoran. When the man left, she unwrapped the painting to find the cancer patient looking back at her with that same sense of determination and confidence that she was acquainted to last night.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Her mind went into turmoil, trying to figure out why Syaoran had sent the painting to her. Didn't he purchase it for his father's upcoming birthday?

The other question was, how did he know that she wanted this painting? She didn't remember mentioning it to him whatsoever, so how did he know?

There wasn't any note that came with it and that didn't help the situation much.

Sitting on the main staircase, with Tomoyo beside her, she took out her phone and began to dial Syaoran's number. But, she paused at the "call" button.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to confirm with him?" Tomoyo asked softly.

An uneasy feeling told Sakura that she didn't want to talk to Syaoran. "I…I don't want to talk to him."

Tomoyo gave her friend a worried gaze before taking Sakura's phone out of her hand and began calling herself.

The phone ringed and ringed and ringed. The two of them waited in silence, Sakura's heart thumped quickly as they waited.

Syaoran never picked up. Tomoyo called once more, but still no one picked up. The second time it failed, Tomoyo pulled the phone away from her ear and checked the number. It did say it was Li Syaoran's number.

Sakura was beginning to feel worried. She was scared that Syaoran might be in some sort of trouble due to yesterday's incident.

"Maybe he's busy," Tomoyo suggested. Her own phone began to ring just as she handed Sakura's back.

Sakura noticed the small blush on her friend's face as she checked the caller's ID. "Good morning, Eriol," she said shyly.

Sakura smiled understandingly.

"Yes, we were just trying to reach Syaoran. Is it some sort of mistake?"

…

"Oh," Tomoyo's smile broadened. "I had no doubt in the beginning, but Sakura wasn't convinced."

…

"Yes…OK…Thank you for calling."

Tomoyo hung up her phone and turned to meet Sakura's expectant gaze. "Because Syaoran's filming right now, he can't pick up any calls. He told Eriol to tell you that yes, he did purchase the painting for you. And, he told you to stay in the house today because the news of the painting spread and reporters are going to ambush you if you leave the house."

"What about that incident?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Eriol said that his company managed to quiet down the press. I checked this morning's newspapers and they mentioned nothing about Syaoran beating up that Kenji guy. It's mainly about Syaoran's 2 million dollar purchase and some of the other auctioned items. There were a few articles about you and Syaoran, as well. But they were all positive things, so don't worry," Tomoyo comforted Sakura with an encouraging smile.

A sigh of relief escaped from her. Even her tightened muscles unconsciously loosened up.

* * *

That entire day, Sakura followed Syaoran's instructions and stayed at home. Most of the time she sat curled up on the sofa in the upstairs living room and stared at the painting which the maids moved into the room from downstairs. All she did was stared and allowed her mind to wonder about the motivations behind Syaoran's purchase. She was so confused that she felt like pulling out her hair.

Tomoyo popped in a few times to check on Sakura without Sakura's acknowledgement. At one point, she decided to sit down beside Sakura and attempted to help clear her mind.

"Why don't you just believe what you see, without trying to dig too deep into it? Maybe it's really not as complicated as it seems. Maybe Syaoran just bought this for you because he wants you to be happy?" Tomoyo told Sakura softly.

Sakura processed Tomoyo's words slowly. She really wanted to tell her best friend that Syaoran should not be trusted so easily, but in order to do that she would have to tell her about their contract. Tomoyo saw Sakura's troubled expression, gave her hand a small squeeze and left the room to give her some time alone.

There were times when Sakura tried relating the painting back to Syaoran's confession. But whenever she did, her defensive nature kicked in and brain-washed her to not believe any of his words.

* * *

Shin wasn't happy with Sakura, not at all. Due to the crowd of waiting paparazzi outside of Daidouji Mansion every morning, she always arrived at the hospital late. Added to that, Syaoran's mind-boggling painting continued to haunt her and occupied most of her mind while she worked. Sometimes after Shin gave her instructions, he was responded with either no reply or an empty nod.

"Miss Kinomoto," Shin said.

Sakura, who was at her desk organizing some files, looked up with a startle and met Shin's cold gaze. "Yes?"

"Can you bring these files to the Emergency Department, please? These files belong to the young patient who just got transferred from our department," he said, handing a thin stack of files to Sakura.

"Yes," Sakura replied and took the files with her.

Sakura was walking in the Emergency Department hallway when a voice called from behind. "Excuse me?"

Sakura turned to find a middle-aged man with a moustache walking towards her, with a cup of hot drink in hand. "Yes?" Sakura asked.

"Are you from the Sick Children's department?" the man asked, looking at the files in Sakura's arms.

"Oh, yeah. ?" Sakura closed the distance between them and handed him the folders.

"Thank you for personally delivering these. Can I get you something to drink?" Fukomoto asked politely.

Sakura shook her head. "Thank you, but I have to get back now."

"Shin is quite a tough mentor, huh?" the man joked. The man looked quite laid back, which was kind of ironic considering he was part of the busiest departments in the hospital.

Sakura smiled. "He is, but he's a very nice man."The man gave a low chuckle.

He looked at Sakura thoughtfully. "Are you Kinomoto Sakura, by any chance?"

Despite her surprise, Sakura nodded.

"So you're Li Syaoran's girlfriend, right?" he asked.

Sakura nodded again, this time a bit hesitant.

"What a coincidence! I have Mr. Li's cap in my office. Can you return it to him for me?" he said with a smile. Ever since that meeting with Syaoran, Fukomoto became fond of him because of his selfless personality that none other celebrity had.

Sakura looked confused. "He came here before? When? Did something happen to him?"

Fukomoto waved his hands dismissively. "He came to ask some questions about amnesia. He said that a friend of his got into a car accident and he wanted to help her regain her memory. He's quite a caring man. You are a very lucky girl."

Sakura followed Fukomoto back to his office to retrieve the cap. Others in the office looked up to see who it was but since Sakura was unrecognizable to them, they returned to their work.

"Once again, thank you. Tell him that if he has more questions, he could always come talk to me," Fukomoto said.

Sakura left Fukomoto's office with yet another mind-boggling news. Why was Syaoran trying to help his friend with amnesia…who was "she?"

Could it be…her…?

When she returned to her own department, Akane stood up from her chair and said to her, "Sakura, you have a visitor."


	17. Chapter 17

**Valkyrie85:** It's been a long time, I know. I'm deeply sorry about that! I had a writer's block...I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 17**

* * *

_Daily Financial Report_

_Kinomoto Corporation's blowout results and strong reports in the past few weeks have put this tech-forward petroleum provider on the competitive world stage, once again, after its drawback during the Recession in 2009. With such outstanding results, Hong Kong-based Asia superpower, Li Corporation, and Kinomoto Corporation proposed a 2.5 billion deal. I suggest you wait patiently for investment opportunities in this project after they release an official statement about the project's commencement. Because, from old reports gathered by our Financial Division, we've come to conclude that both Shen Li and Aaron Kinomoto are somewhat "volatile" businessmen that change their decisions constantly…_

Touya was engaging in his morning newspaper-reading routine in his office, when he was interrupted by knocks on his door.

"Come in," he called out with irritation. He hated being interrupted at this time in the morning because it was the only time of the day to do research on the progress of his company. After half an hour or so, he had to begin his signing of different contracts and participate in different meetings.

Kaho creeped into the room, her high heels clicking as she walked. "An express from Hong Kong, inviting you to Shen Li's 60th birthday celebration," Kaho said, handing the fancy envelop to her husband.

"It's this Saturday, but you are meeting the representatives from England," Kaho said as she watched Touya read the content on the card. She wished that he wouldn't go because she had a feeling that Sakura might be there with Syaoran. An encounter at the party will definitely cause Touya to lose control and spill everything…

Not many people in the world knew about Aaron Kinomoto, the CEO of the company, because Touya chose not to disclose any personal information to anyone outside of his family and close friends' circle. To the outside world, he was just mysterious and intelligent Aaron Kinomoto who worked hard for the success of the company. Even on the internet, by searching would simply turn out his name, his wife's name, his mother's name and his father's name, as well as a simple description of how the company was established and a list of publicized projects that involved the corporation.

Kinomoto Sakura was not identified anywhere because the family decided to protect her from the manipulative business world ever since she was young. It was also by her choice to not be identified as she was pursuing a medical career and did not want to be treated differently due to her status. Everything was fine the way it was, but ever since Sakura signed the "faking dating" contract with Li Syaoran, Touya threatened to expose her.

"We could always post-pone the meeting," Touya replied indecisively. His mind was somewhere else as he talked.

Kaho's eyes narrowed. She could tell that he was trying to hide something from her, probably because he knew that she got Sakura's back if anything happened.

"Don't go. You'll regret it," Kaho warned.

"I know that if I don't go, I'll regret not being there to protect my sister. I already lost my mother. I don't want to lose her too," Touya retorted, fists clenching at the mentioning of his mother.

Kaho didn't understand why her husband was so against Sakura and Syaoran dating. She voiced her thoughts.

"Li Syaoran is a puppet used by Li Shen to lure Sakura. He wants to merge our companies," Touya declared with venom.

Kaho's eyes widened. "Where's your proof?"

"Li Syaoran hired a private investigator to look into Sakura's background. He approached Sakura back in high school and a month ago, approached her again with this stupid fake-dating contract."

"And only with these assumptions, you are trying to convince me that he's using her all along?" Kaho asked with disgust.

"I'm not trying to convince anyone. As long as I believe it, then everything's fine," Touya replied.

* * *

The sky was gradually becoming darker as Sakura waited for the bus to arrive at her stop. She loved living in Tomoyo's neighbourhood because it was quiet, less crowded and completely isolated from the busy streets of downtown Tokyo, but she hated taking the bus there.

It only came every half an hour, and she had unfortunately missed the one she was supposed to get on.

Her strange headaches on rainy days occupied her thoughts that she didn't even notice when the silver SUV came to a halt in front of her, its engine still running.

"Miss Kinomoto, get in the car. I'll give you a ride," said Shin from the driver's seat on the other side of the rolled down window.

Sakura looked surprised. "Mister Yasahiro, what are you doing here?"

"Michio and I just came back from the orphanage nearby. It's starting to rain. Get in," Shin explained, stretching across the passenger seat to open the door for her.

Sakura never knew there was an orphanage nearby. What were they doing at an orphanage, anyways?

She hesitated before going to the car. Not only was it not right to get a ride from her mentor, but it was also very awkward.

When she climbed in, she noticed Michio sleeping soundly in the back. She couldn't help but smile at the innocent and peaceful face of the child.

"Thank you," Sakura said to her mentor. The car was clean and spacious inside, but she felt strange to the unfamiliar surroundings. In comparison, she felt more at ease in Syaoran's car.

"Where are you going?" Shin asked, his voice cold as usual.

"Inokashira Park," Sakura replied.

"Inokashira Park? In a weather like this?" Shin asked, looking at the now drizzling rain outside.

"Yes, I have to look for someone there," Sakura said. Somehow, she felt that she shouldn't mention Syaoran's name in case her mentor mistaken that she was going on a date on her day off, instead of studying at home.

With that, the ride became dead silent. Michio's soft breathing was the only sound that made Sakura less nervous. She wondered if her mentor was naturally this quiet or he just had nothing to talk to her about. The silence made her more aware of her headache.

"Is your head okay?" Shin asked, his eyes never leaving the road. It was much to Sakura's astonishment that he noticed.

"It always hurts whenever the weather's like today," Sakura said.

"Did you hurt your head before?" Shin asked, his doctoral sense kicking in.

"No, but I was in a car crash seven years ago. Does that have anything to do with it?"

Shin shifted his eyes quickly to Sakura for the first time. His expression was grave; perhaps her words reminded him of his wife's unfortunate death. "Come in earlier tomorrow morning. I'll give you a close check-up."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Thank you." Silence resumed throughout the rest of the ride.

Upon their arrival at the park, Sakura noticed white tents and umbrellas of all sizes and colours stationed in every part of the area. Yellow tapes surrounded the main entrance guarded by two staff members in order to keep park visitors out.

Anything to this extent was more than enough for even a little kid to understand that something important was going on.

"This is the place, right?" Shin asked, coming to a halt next to the sidewalk. "It looks like they're filming for a movie there. How can you get in?"

Sakura turned to her mentor, glad that the awkward ride was finally over, and replied with a smile, "Someone will come and help me into the park. Thank you very much for giving me a lift, ."

Before Sakura shut the car door, Shin suddenly said, "Miss Kinomoto, maybe you should start asking yourself why you wanted to become a doctor and what your goals are after becoming a real one."

The statement confused Sakura, but she left it aside when Shin offered a black umbrella to her and erasing her previous train of thought.

"Thank you. I'll give this back to you tomorrow," she said.

"You're welcome," Shin replied. He waited until Hikari rushed out of the park with an extra umbrella in hand and led Sakura into the park, before driving off.

It was unfathomable to him why curiosity shone in the woman's eyes during their short eye contact.

* * *

"_Syaoran has resentment towards his parents. They sent him abroad when he was only nine with a guardian that his parents trusted. Not once did his parents visit or call him during the nine years that he stayed in America." _

"_Why did they send him there? Couldn't he visit them in Hong Kong, instead?" _

"_It was more like an exile or isolation. He was forbidden to set foot on the soil of another country."_

"…_Why go to such extremes…?" _

"_Sakura, you do know that Syaoran is the heir to the Li Corporation, right?"_

"…_No. But I knew he was from a wealthy family." _

"_He's not just from any wealthy family. He is from the Li Clan. He's the last one eligible to take over the entire business empire."_

"…_Li Clan?"_

"_You've heard about the Li Clan, I'm sure. It's the oldest and most powerful clan that ever existed. It is said that this clan is the direct descendant of the Royal family from the 18__th__ century. Almost over 3 quarters of their ruling in Hong Kong, they controlled 80% of the entire country's economy. I know this all seems very unrealistic to you, right now."_

"_What does being part of the Li Clan have anything to do with Syaoran being sent abroad?" _

"_Over the centuries, the Li Clan saw a dramatic decrease in its lineage. By the time Syaoran's grandfather took over the position as leader, only him, his two sons, one of which was illegitimate, Syaoran and the illegitimate son's daughter became the last four descendant who had the Li Clan blood flowing in them. During the 1985 global recession, China was hit the hardest. With the Li Clan controlling 80% of the country's economy, almost all of the labour force blamed the clan for their sufferings. They rioted and threatened to kill Syaoran's grandfather if he didn't improve the situation. One night, a group of underground radicals set Syaoran's grandfather's residence on fire and killed both him and his wife. After the sudden death, Syaoran's father took over the position as the new leader and put high protection on the members of the family. He was concerned about Syaoran's safety, since he was the heir. So, he decided to send him abroad secretly with a guardian that he trusted and ordered his prohibition to return. "_

"…_I'm completely speechless. He never mentioned any of this. Doesn't he know the reason behind his parents' decision?"_

"_He does, but you see, his parents aren't the most reasonable people…" _

"…_?"_

"_I know this is selfish of me to ask this. Can you convince Syaoran to attend his father's birthday celebration? If the person was you, I think he would listen..."_

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Syaoran's voice suddenly cut her off from her thoughts and gave her a startle. He shut the door of the trailer behind him and approached the sofa, face filled with bewilderment. His hair and body was dripping with water from filming.

"I-I just came by to say hi," she stuttered. Looking at his handsome face, she felt shy for some reason. It was a strange reaction that never occurred to her when Syaoran was around.

There was something different about Syaoran today. The aura around him wasn't as energetic and full of life like usual. Even the way he walked wasn't as arrogant as before.

He began to strip off his wet purple tie, black suit, pants, and shoes as Sakura quickly turned her head the other way. "That's unexpected of you," he said. Once he was in his boxer, he opened the wardrobe and pulled out a bathrobe.

"I'm only going to take 5 minutes," he told her before going into the bathroom of his trailer.

She didn't like this type of Syaoran. His normal charisma was nowhere in sight and his voice sounded so dead.

She had never seen him like this before, just like she had never heard about his family background. Both situations had the same impact. The realization that she knew so little about him made her a little sad.

There was soft knocking on the door. Sakura opened it and found a short girl shyly waiting on the stairs. There was an ID card on her, so she assumed that the girl was a crew member. "Hi, I came to collect Syaoran's clothes to dry them for later scenes," the girl said, her eyes stretched wide open at seeing Sakura.

"It's the suit he just wore, right?" Sakura asked. The girl nodded a little too eagerly.

"Give me a second," Sakura told her, moving back into the trailer to retrieve the suit. She dug her hand into the different pockets to see if anything of Syaoran's was in there before handing them to the girl.

"Thank you," both said in unison as the girl hurriedly rushed away from the trailer.

Sakura closed the door and found Syaoran coming out of the bathroom, his body wrapped in a bathrobe while he dried his hair manually with a cloth. The nice smell of his shampoo diffused across the trailer even before he closed the bathroom door.

"She came to collect my suit?" he asked, voice less dead than before.

Sakura nodded. She walked towards him and offered to dry his hair for him.

Syaoran studied her for a few seconds quietly before handing the hairdryer to her.

She didn't know if it was compassion for his lonely past that made her do things so out of character, or if it was simply because he looked so damn tired.

During the few minutes of drying, Syaoran would have normally made a whole bunch of stupid jokes to make her angry. But today, he was silent and enjoyed the minutes and rested with closed eyes.

Syaoran's hair was thin and soft. It was even softer than her own.

"So, what are you actually here for?" Syaoran asked Sakura after she finished drying his hair. He was sitting on the sofa, head leaning back against the top of the sofa that was too short for him.

"You don't believe that I just came to say hi?" Sakura asked, slightly offended and amused at the same time.

"If that was your purpose, then you are not Kinomoto Sakura," Syaoran replied confidently.

He knew her well, Sakura thought.

"Go to your father's birthday celebration this Saturday," Sakura said, almost in a commanding tone. She decided that it would be a waste of time to beat around the bush since he wasn't convinced. It would also give him more time to rest before his next take.

"No wonder he said that," Syaoran said softly to himself, thoughtfully.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing. I'm guessing that Eriol talked to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, he said I'd be able to convince you to go. But, you should know me by now. I don't know how to sweet-talk or sound the least bit persuasive when I attempt to."

A small smile crept onto his face at her statement. "I'll go," he said unexpectedly.

Sakura stood straight from the wall that she was leaning against. "Really?" she asked unbelievably, amazed that she was finally successful at convincing someone.

"But you have to go with me," he added, automatically shutting Sakura up.

She didn't want to get involved with his family business. Not to mention, this was his father's celebration. What kind of fake girlfriend met with the boyfriend's parents? Didn't they meet only when the couple planned on getting married?

"Are you crazy?" she questioned.

"Should I be?" Syaoran joked.

"_What happens if he doesn't attend?" _

"_His parents are very conscious of their image. It will be an embarrassment if their only son fails to attend. They have the ability to destroy his current career if he displeases them…"_

"Will you really go if I go with you?" Sakura asked uncertainly.

Syaoran raised his head from the sofa and grinned as he nodded. "Yes."

With a sigh, she agreed. "Okay, it's just for the weekend right? When are we leaving for Hong Kong?"

"Tomorrow after you finish your work. I'll pick you up afterwards," Syaoran told her excitedly, his old personality kicking in.

Sakura nodded. Syaoran curled his fingers inwards, motioning her to come closer to him. She followed what he wanted, and he suddenly pulled her down onto the sofa.

Before she could retaliate, his head quickly landed on her lap. He put all his force onto her legs to prevent her from escaping.

"W—"

"I've been up since 4 in the morning. Just 30 minutes," he told her tiredly, automatically falling into deep slumber.

At first, Sakura was all tensed up by their intimate position. Slowly as she watched Syaoran's peaceful state, she began to relax. It was the first time that she looked at him this close-up.

The rise and fall of his chest told her that he was actually sleeping. This triggered her to contour his perfect features lightly with the tip of her index finger. Down the tall bridge of his straight nose, around his soft lips, brushing down his long lashes…

He was beautiful, she concluded. How come she never noticed how perfect of a look he had? Or, had she just been taking everything for granted all this time?

She didn't know when she fell asleep as well, but when she woke up, she found herself lying flat on the sofa with Syaoran's bathrobe covered on top of her body as a blanket.

* * *

It was a somewhat exciting day for Sakura. Early in the morning, Shin did a full body check on Sakura as promised. X-ray scan, MRI scan, ultrasound…He had said that in order to find the basis of her headaches, they had to do a thorough check-up of the entire body. It would not have been professional to assume that headaches were caused by the brain only and exclude other possibilities.

Shin said the results would come out on Monday, and they would take it from there afterwards.

That day, Sakura got to attend to her first patient. Although the child had fever, a rather common illness, Shin told Sakura to not overlook the problem. She listened to his instructions and diagnosed that the child's fever was actually an early symptom of chicken pox. As a result of the discovery, the patient's parents signed him into the hospital for the night. Shin was very impressed by Sakura's performance.

Another reason that made her excited was because of Syaoran's father's birthday celebration. When she returned home yesterday, Tomoyo almost jumped her happily over the news that she would be attending the celebration on behalf of her mother, who was on yet another business trip. In addition, she would attend the party as Eriol's partner, who was invited to the party because he was Syaoran's best friend. They slept in Sakura's room last night as Tomoyo talked on and on about the dresses that they would wear to the party and what they should do once they arrive in Hong Kong. Much to her surprise, Sakura was actually excited about the weekend as well, although not for the actual reason of the trip.

At exactly 6 o'clock, Syaoran texted Sakura to tell her that he's in the parking lot waiting. After grabbing her handbag and saying bye to her colleagues, she rushed out the hospital backdoor.

The four of them checked in at the VIP lounge of the airport in order to avoid Syaoran's crazy fans. Minutes before going onto the plane, Sakura took out her phone and turned it off.

Little did she know, on the other side of the world, her sister- in-law was about to call her to warn her that her brother was also on his way to the party…

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** Uh oh. Looks like an encounter between the siblings will be unavoidable...Let's see if the encounter will be the only interesting thing that will happen on the day of the party ;p

I had fun writing the history of the Li Clan. I hope everything made sense to you : )

REMEMBER TO REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what kind of scenes you want more or less of, for example, more S&S or E&T scenes, dialogues/descriptions, celebrity-related scenes, scandals...etc.

Just a side note-Could anyone please explain to me what "hurt" would represent in the genre section? I mean, what kind of situations in a story would make it a "hurt" story? Thank you in advance!


	18. Chapter 18

**Valkyrie85: **Hello, everyone! This is probably the fastest update I've made in awhile, and did I mention how LONG this chapter is? 8,502 words!

Thank you, thank you for writing a review and adding me to your favourite/alert lists! Keep those coming because the more there are, the faster and, perhaps longer, update I'll make! : ) Enjoy!

**Chapter 18**

* * *

"Sakura, time to wake up," Syaoran's voice murmured soothingly into Sakura's ears.

Under the tingling feeling of his breath, Sakura slowly opened her eyes. She gazed around the plane, feeling refreshed from her nap, and found a few flight attendants retrieving the other travellers' carry-on from the upper compartments.

Next to Syaoran and her seat, Tomoyo had her head rested against Eriol's chest. The two of them quietly giggled at something funny in the magazine that they were sharing.

Sakura almost gagged at the sight. She couldn't recall when Eriol and Tomoyo's relationship had gotten to this level. Despite the fact that both were her friends, she wished they weren't so passionate in public. Could they not keep their hands off of each other on a plane ride that was merely 4 hours long?

But a little less than two seconds later, she guiltily erased the thought when she realized she was in a position similar to theirs.

Sakura abruptly pulled her head away from Syaoran's shoulder, looking embarrassed. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble. Your shoulder must be sore," she apologized, looking down.

Syaoran chuckled. "It's okay. You were just really tired." Sakura didn't know what else to say because she wasn't sure where she stood in their relationship. Ever since that day of the confession, Syaoran never mentioned it again.

That was when an announcement broke out and saved her from the awkwardness.

_It is 11:17 p.m. in Hong Kong. The temperature is 32 degree Celsius. On behalf of the entire crew, I would like to thank you for flying with Air Japan. I hope you have a wonderful time during your stay in Hong Kong and hope to serve you again in the future. For your convenience, please stay seated until we make a further announcement for you to exit the plane. _

As soon as the announcement was made, two female flight attendantscame to Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol and escorted them out of the plane. At first Sakura didn't know why they were receiving special treatment, but then it occurred to her that it was the airport's way to keep everyone safe by separating important figures like Syaoran away from the rest of the crowd, in case a commotion broke out.

"Isn't that Li Syaoran, mom? Oh my God, I can't believe I couldn't tell it was him!" Sakura heard a passenger whisper to her mom excitedly as they passed by them on the way out. Others followed shortly with similar remarks. She took a glimpse at Syaoran, whose top part of the face was covered by one of his classic caps, to see his reaction, but he was calm and unaffected by all the attention on him.

"Have a good time," both flight attendants said in unison with a bow once they reached the empty corridor of the Hong Kong International Airport.

Before they headed back to the plane, four security guards dressed in uniform arrived just in time to escort them out of the airport safely.

"Good evening, thank you for coming today," Eriol greeted the guards.

Syaoran also thanked them while the ladies remained quiet on the side, observing this celebrity-in-the-airport situation. Only on TV had they seen celebrities walked out of the airport with tough-looking security guards, but now they were actually experiencing the situation in person.

The four guards nodded in a professional manner, without saying a word. They led them down the empty glass-walled corridors, pass the VIP customs office, and finally descending down the escalator to the luggage pick-up area. Thankful to their late arrival, there weren't many other travellers.

Their conspicuous entrance received curious stares from those who were waiting for their luggage to turn up, but none of them approached or even attempted to approach them. It was expected. Who wanted to risk their lives?

While Syaoran waited for their luggage, he handed his passport to Sakura. Eriol and Tomoyo were on the other side of the conveyor belt waiting.

"Aren't you American?" Sakura asked, confused by the red Chinese passport being passed into her hands.

"I am. I have three passports: Chinese, American, Japanese," Syaoran replied casually, as if it were something completely normal to him.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "Three? Is that even possible?"

"Sure, why not. As long as you have money and status, anything is possible," he said. When his Salvatore suitcase appeared on the conveyer belt, one of his guards carried it off to the cart.

Sakura's brows furrowed. This type of exception granted to Syaoran due to his family status only made her feel more distanced from Syaoran. It proved how different their lives were.

"Can I see your passport?" she asked Syaoran for permission. She knew it will take awhile until their entire luggage was pulled onto the carts, so she decided to kill some time. She was actually curious to see how he looked in the photos for official documents, being absolutely sure that in the photos for his ad campaigns, the photographers did touch-ups on his face.

"Sure," Syaoran responded, pointing at Sakura's red suitcase to the guard. "But don't expect to find any difference in the photo. I'm just that handsome with or without Photoshop."

Sakura ignored his comment and opened the passport to the first page, not bothering to hide her displeasure that she was exposed. Why was he always able to tell what was on her mind?

Just like his words, his photo was perfectly flawless. The same straight nose, same perfect lips, same high cheekbones, same bigger-than-average eyes…every detail of the photo was a replica of the one standing in front of her, except for the neat hair that was not purposely gelled up into messy disarrays and the age. The Syaoran in the photo looked around 18 or 19. She checked the date that the passport was issued, and as she had guessed, it was issued to him almost 7 years ago, which meant that Syaoran was 17, almost turning 18.

Her eyes skimmed through the rest of his passport. Only one or two pages out of the entire booklet were stamped. When she saw one of the stamps in the earlier pages, she stopped to look at it in more detail.

"What's so interesting?" Syaoran walked back to where she was standing. The four bodyguards followed behind with their luggage.

"Hm, nothing. This was when you returned to Hong Kong for the first time right? It was the same day that I got into the car accident, well if what my brother told me was true. I woke up in the hospital one week after this date, June 24th," Sakura responded. She was amused by the coincidence, but Syaoran was not.

"If this is one of our few coincidences, I would rather not remember it because you almost lost your life that day," Syaoran commented grimly. He took his passport back and slipped it into the side of his carry-on.

Eriol and Tomoyo came around the conveyor belt with their cart of luggage and asked Syaoran, "So, same plan as usual?"

Syaoran turned to his friend and nodded. Sakura was glad that the slight tension between them just now was gone.

"Sakura, Eriol and I will go out first with our baggage to find a cab. You two will come out with the bodyguards afterward," Tomoyo told Sakura, keeping her updated on their plan.

Sakura nodded. She realized that whoever came up with the plan was extremely intelligent. As supposed to strolling through the airport with the cart, while fans tried to approach him everywhere, this plan allowed Syaoran to make a quick escape if necessary. But, obviously not many celebrities would accept such a plan. Those who weren't as famous as Syaoran would want to linger around just to sign a few autographs, take a few pictures with fans, and wave like there was no tomorrow.

Shortly after Syaoran received a text from Eriol, Syaoran commanded the whole group to exit. Two bodyguards in the front, two in the back. Syaoran's arm automatically enveloped Sakura's waist protectively. "Don't be too overwhelmed by what's coming," Syaoran murmured quietly.

As soon as the automatic glass doors opened, the entire airport erupted into an uproar. They began to scream, chant, jump in joy with their posters…basically anything Sakura would see on TV. Despite the short notice of Syaoran's arrival, hundreds of fans managed to get to the airport.

"Careful, some of them are vicious," Syaoran said to Sakura, tightening his arm around her waist.

"小狼！小狼！我爱你！" (Xiao Lang! Xiao Lang! I love you!)

"你终于回来了！" (You finally came back!)

"你女朋友好漂亮啊！" (Your girlfriend is so pretty!)

To Sakura's amusement, some even managed to speak broken Japanese to them.

The fans pushed and shoved, trying to break through the bodyguards. Sakura had heard that Chinese fans were always that much more passionate, but not to this extent. At least the Japanese fans knew that stars needed their personal space and respected the boundary line that was put against them.

But, who could blame the Chinese fans? Li Xiao Lang was the pride and joy of their country!

Syaoran greeted his fans in Mandarin, and used his free hand to shake the fans here and there. A few of them demanded for a picture, however he kindly rejected them by using Sakura as a shield.

"我的女朋友今天不是很舒服。我们现在要赶回宾馆。" (She's not feeling well, tonight. We have to get her to the hotel quickly.) Syaoran said in a pretentiously worried voice to his fans. Even though Sakura didn't understand what he was saying, she gave him a raised eyebrow at his change of tone.

Some fans were considerate. They immediately stepped back and ordered the others to follow. However, many continued to stalk them out of the airport without a care in the world.

"希望你能好起来," (I hope you'll get better) some of them said to Sakura sympathetically, with genuine concern. Sakura could only nod as if she understood what they were saying.

The fans followed them out to their taxi. They were so persistent that Sakura wondered if they would hop into a taxi and stalk them to their hotel. Eriol waved at them as they approached and held the door open for them.

Syaoran and Sakura quickly climbed into the car with the help of the bodyguards. With one last wave at the fans, a "Thank you" to the guards, Eriol shut the taxi door behind them.

"Phew, nice save bro," Syaoran said exhaustedly. He collapsed onto the seat like a dead cow. From the front, Tomoyo giggled softly.

"What did you say to them about me?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

"I said you were sick and we have to get you back to the hotel quickly," he responded with eyes closed.

Seeing that he didn't have much energy, Sakura simply groaned and scorned under her breath, "Liar."

"Welcome to my hometown, girls. Welcome to Hong Kong," Syaoran announced before falling asleep.

* * *

With a click of a button on the remote, the large curtains slowly separated, revealing a spectacular view of the beautiful City of Lights.

From the large windows, Sakura and Tomoyo stared down in awe at the streets that were only made recognizable by the hundreds of lights that lined up on the edge of the routes. It was the perfect view, not too small and not too big, all thanks to the perfect location of Syaoran's two-floor condo. It was a gift from his parents for his 18th birthday as well as for his return to Hong Kong.

"Does it always look like this at night?" Sakura asked Syaoran, without taking her eyes off of the view. The question also voiced Tomoyo's thought, as this was the first trip for the two of them.

"Of course, that's the beauty of Hong Kong. But, this picture-perfect view could only be seen here," Syaoran answered proudly, his expression energized from the long ride rest.

"Wow," Tomoyo murmured whatever she could manage at the moment.

Eriol, who had been ordering around the chauffer with the luggage, finally joined them in the living room after the chauffer left.

"Should we all wash up and have a good night's rest now? It's almost 2," he suggested, looking up at the second floor and thinking how to divide up the two bedrooms.

Tomoyo hurriedly dragged Eriol up the stairs. "Eriol and I will share a room for tonight. Syaoran and Sakura can share the other room," she decided, as if she were the owner of the house.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura called up to her friend disapprovingly, but Tomoyo shut the room of the door before Sakura could finish.

Beside her, Syaoran was fighting back a smile. He also began making his way up to his and Sakura's room.

"I'm going to sleep on the sofa, tonight!" Sakura called out to him.

Syaoran replied, "Sure, but I don't have an extra blanket."

Sakura cursed under her breath. If it weren't so god-damned cold in his open-style living room, she wouldn't have minded.

"Can't you turn down the AC or something?" Sakura asked, knowing that she could probably survive a night without one.

Syaoran shook his head with a mischievous look. "I don't have control over the AC. The entire building has a set temperature."

Sakura frowned. "What kind of building is this? God, you can't even control the AC in your own home."

"I suggest you sleep in the room if you don't want to catch a cold," Syaoran suggested, before continuing climbing his way up.

Feeling helpless, Sakura stomped up the stairs after him.

The room they entered was Syaoran's master bedroom. The other one that Tomoyo and Eriol entered was a guest room. Sakura wondered if Tomoyo and Syaoran had planned this because Tomoyo walked straight into the other room without hesitation.

With ornamentations like a fake fireplace and cream-coloured walls, it was completely opposite of the way his room back in Tokyo looked. The setting automatically emitted a sense of warmth and familiarity once Sakura entered, unlike his other apartment that seemed more suitable for a photo shoot display than an actual habitual setting.

"This place feels nice," Sakura commented.

* * *

By the time Sakura came out of the shower, Syaoran was already fast asleep on the bed. His pajama-covered body lied on its stomach, with his left arm dangling off of the line of pillows that were used to draw their boundary line.

Sakura climbed onto her side of the bed, and slipped under the blanket after covering Syaoran's body with it as well.

"Sakura," Syaoran said suddenly, his hand grabbing hers. There was no hint of fatigue in his voice.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go out," he said.

Sakura turned to Syaoran, forgetting the lights that she was going to turn off. He looked up at her seriously and repeated, "Let's go out. For real this time." So, he had not forgotten about it after all.

Following that entire day of self-reflection, and words from Tomoyo and Eriol, Sakura decided to accept Syaoran's words a little. And from her observation of Syaoran these few days, that little bit of trust unexpectedly grew.

"I—" she finally said, looking down at the blanket.

"I don't have enough confidence in you, Syaoran."

Syaoran didn't make a joke. "You don't believe that I'm serious about you? Or, you don't have confidence that I'll be a good boyfriend?"

Even with her head down, Sakura could feel his intense stare.

She tried answering his question inside her head. Which one was it? It became pretty obvious that Syaoran would make a good boyfriend. He was considerate, funny, and annoying, which sometimes helped to ease her frustration. She even remembered the times when he'd helped her with her troubles, like during the photo shoot in Yokohama when she almost lost her position as the main model because of her headache. He had been the one who reminded her that Tomoyo's success in the fashion industry all depended on her performance. Also, during the fashion show, he was the one who carried her onto the stage due to her twisted ankle and allowed the show to end on a good note. And recently at the gala, he'd punched the perverted drunken man for her.

Although she knew that all of these events were related to their contract, she now believed that he did not react entirely out of his sense of duty, but out of his caring nature.

"You—you would make a good boyfriend, but I don't want to enter a relationship that has a… predictable ending," Sakura said. Syaoran understood what she meant by "a predictable ending." She was hinting at his playboy personality.

He sat up from the bed and leaned against the backboard, thinking how to begin explaining the subject.

"The image that my agency asked me to portray back when I first debuted was an arrogant, immature and playboy-like character," he began explaining. "They said only with this type of personality would I attract a huge amount of fans in the shortest period of time, especially with my looks. That was why I was constantly involved in a scandal each week, whether it was to promote myself, a new movie or an ad campaign. Over this period of time, I began to fall into the role naturally as if I had already developed into that type of character, until Eriol told me that the quality of my acting was slowly having side-effects. My fans got tired of my playboy lifestyle and saw the flaws in my acting. That was when we decided to shift the image to a more responsible one. When you and Tomoyo appeared all of a sudden asking me to model for Daidouji Inc., I decided that it would be a perfect chance to reintroduce my image by fake-dating you."

Syaoran paused and continued. "At first, I thought it'd be easy. Just help your friend, and you'll help me. But I started experiencing strange emotions that I never felt before, especially when I saw you holding hands with your mentor and acting so close with that brat…that day, I was on the verge of jumping out of my car and punch that guy out."

"And the day when Kenji touched you at the gala…that was my limit. That's when I realized my feelings for you. They didn't appear overnight. I realized they had always been there." The final sentence was said rather quietly, as if he was telling himself that.

While Sakura digested his words, he thought back to the time when they were in high school. At first, Joshua Strezos, one of his best friends in High School, wanted him to join his childish game of teasing Sakura Kinomoto, a junior at the school who had been discovered to like Joshua. Joshua had devised a plan to verbally attack her whenever the opportunity was granted. Little did he know, Syaoran was already beginning to have feelings for her, but was too embarrassed to admit his feelings for a junior. Back in his days, a senior who liked a junior was considered a pedophile due to the age difference. In addition to his fear of public scrutiny, there was also his "sister," Meiling Li, who was really just a cousin but because of their special circumstance, they were related in such a way. Meiling was in the same grade as Sakura, and if people found out about his crush, he would not be able to survive the embarrassment. When Joshua found out, he had tried to help him in the hallways whenever they saw Sakura. However, the plan backfired due to Joshua's earlier teasing. Sakura did not believe them and hated them for their actions.

Now that he has matured, Syaoran can't believe how immature and gutless he was back then. He never confessed, but somehow the feeling was obvious to the then-15 year-old Sakura after Joshua's numerous attempts to get Syaoran's feelings across. He could tell from the curious looks she had given him in the hallways.

Despite it all, Syaoran never confessed, not even until the day he left the States for good. Because of the stupidity, he didn't want to mention their past to Sakura.

He had lost her then, but he would not do it again now. Everything would start anew.

"I understand that you have insecurities about me…and our relationship. But Sakura, I've never been this serious about a girl in my life. Give me a chance. I'll prove to you that I'm not as bad as you think I am." He smiled at Sakura encouragingly.

What happened to the previous promises that she made to herself about not getting involved in anything that would interfere with her studies?

"I can't promise you the relationship will last forever. Anything could happen in the future and could break us apart. But for now, just give me a chance."

Syaoran squeezed her hand and waited for her answer.

Sakura gave him the nod.

* * *

Since all four of them were exhausted from the night before, they woke up late in the afternoon. Eriol and Syaoran volunteered to be the tour guides of the day, as they were Hong Kong natives. They decided that they would go to Dim Sum for their morning/lunch meal.

While Sakura was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, Syaoran sneaked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His face was beaming with joy due to the exciting day ahead and the fact that they were finally a couple.

"Now I can do something like this without thinking up an excuse," Syaoran whispered into her ears, breath smelling minty fresh from their toothpaste. Sakura's heart beat quickly from their contact, but she didn't pull him away.

She felt strangely at ease with him now that they were official.

She looked at him through the mirror with a raised eyebrow. "Are you saying that you made up fake excuses just to get close to me before?"

"All the time," Syaoran replied, sending a dazzling grin back to the mirror. "You were too naive to notice anything."

Sakura hit his arm but was too slow compared to his quick reflexes. "You!" Foam from the toothpaste flew everywhere as she spat out the word.

"Hey! Don't abuse me again!" he whined, jumping away from her.

She froze and gave Syaoran a confused look. "Again? What did I do?"

"I don't know how you did it but you rolled over the line of pillows and came to my side. And you snored and kicked me off the bed several times!"

"What?" Sakura cried out. "I don't snore! And I don't roll around when I sleep!"

"Sure, sure. You probably wanted to remove the pillows, but were too embarrassed since you were the one that put them there," Syaoran said with a smirk.

Her face reddened like a tomato. She began chasing him across the room with her toothbrush.

Much had been planned for the day after Dim Sum, including a visit to the most famous temple in Hong Kong, Wong Tai Sin Temple. But everything got cancelled at the last minute because Syaoran's mother, Li Yelan, unexpectedly sent a chauffeur to pick them up at the restaurant.

"_李小狼少爷好。"（__Hello__，__Young Master Li Xiao Lang__）__The young chauffeur bowed to Syaoran from the side of the black limo. Pedestrians on the busy street viewed with curiosity._

"_夫人命令我把您接回家。"__(Lady Yelan has ordered that I come and pick you up.)_

"_What's he saying?" Tomoyo mouthed to Eriol, who raised a finger to his mouth while he listened for more. _

"_她说要和您通话。"__(She asked to speak to you on the phone.) The driver pressed the speed dial button on his phone and handed it to Syaoran with another bow. _

_Syaoran released Sakura's hand as he put the phone against his ear. He hesitated before he spoke,"__妈__." (Mother)._

"_既然回来了就因该先回家见父母。把你的朋友也带回来吧。尤其是那位木之本小姐。" __Syaoran's mother, Li Yelan, spoke disapprovingly to her son. (Since you're back, the first thing you should do is come home to see your parents. Bring your friends with you as well, especially .)_

_Syaoran answered, "__是__." (Yes.)_

_With that, his mother hung up the phone. Syaoran handed the phone back to the driver, said a few words to him, and pulled Sakura with him towards the limo. _

During the half-an-hour ride to the Li Estate, both Tomoyo and Sakura noticed Syaoran's dramatic change of mood. Despite his fondling of Sakura's finger he was grim and contemplative.

Eriol told them that it was his normal reaction whenever he was called to the Estate.

Before the chauffeur's arrival, Syaoran had been his usual aloof self, making smart-ass remarks but at the same time being the good boyfriend that he had promised Sakura to be the night before. He had been the one who continuously filled Sakura's bowl with food, while commenting on how uncomfortable and skinny her legs were when he took the nap on her lap the other day. This received a round of giggles from Eriol and Tomoyo, as well as another flushed face from Sakura. Out of her bag, Tomoyo had grabbed her camera to take pictures of Sakura's rare expressions, while Syaoran, the ever-passionate poser, joined the photos uninvited. But as soon as Syaoran had finished talking on the chauffeur's phone with his mother, his mood had shifted and his face paled.

* * *

The full impact of the Li Clan's richness was not realized until Sakura set foot outside of the escorting limo. In front her was not just a mansion that she or Tomoyo were used to living in for the better part of their life.

It was an opulent palace-like European-style mansion that was 3-times bigger than both of theirs combined.

It was so huge that from where she was standing, only the front door was recognizable. No wonder it was located miles away from the city. The sprawling city held no such space for this type of architecture.

As the four of them entered the mansion, a dozen of maids dressed neatly in their uniform welcomed them with a bow. "小狼少爷，欢迎回来，" they greeted in unison. (Master Xiao Lang, welcome home.) The sudden greeting was nerve-wrecking for Sakura.

Syaoran, who grew up in such an environment, was oblivious to Sakura's amazement.

Tomoyo and Eriol, on the other hand, were not as overwhelmed as Sakura was, for Tomoyo had been previously informed about Syaoran's family influence and power by her mother and the magazines that she once read, while Eriol had made many trips to the Li estate several times before.

Syaoran conveyed a brief nod and greeted the old housekeeper at the end of the line with a few words in Mandarin.

"请带我的朋友到贵宾室。好好的招待他们," Syaoran told the housekeeper. (Please take my friends to the guest room. Serve them well.)

The lady waved over two maids and told them to direct the guests down the hall. Sakura rendered a wary look to Syaoran, not knowing where he was going. He returned an assured gaze before they disappeared down the hall.

"伯母要找你啊？" Eriol, who knew what was going on to some extent, legged behind and inquired.(Does your mother want to talk to you?) Eriol was half Chinese and half English, therefore he was able to communicate well in both languages.

"对。不知道又想干嘛。还说要我把Sakura也带来，" Syaoran returned. (Yeah. I don't know what she wants now. She even told me to bring Sakura along.)

Eriol gave his friend a good-luck pat on the shoulder and followed down the hall without another word.

"夫人在那里？" Syaoran turned to the housekeeper and asked.(Where's Lady Yelan?)

The housekeeper directed Syaoran toward Li Yelan's Study.

* * *

(Since this conversation is between Syaoran and his mother, they'll be speaking in Mandarin. There's no point in translating the entire thing, so just pretend that the English you see is actually Mandarin.)

"Xiao Lang." Syaoran's mother glanced at Syaoran from the desk as he entered.

Li Yelan, the Chair of Li Commerce Bank of China, was an intelligent and beautiful woman in her early fifties, with an air of grace and elegance that effortlessly commanded respect and awe everywhere she went. She was an extremely serious, strict, and in Syaoran's opinion, a very unreasonable, woman who had a cold demeanour. "Ice Queen" was a nickname given to her by the subordinates behind her back.

"Mother," Syaoran replied in an equally solemn and emotionless, voice. Before his parents, he disliked showing them his casual side because that could be mistaken for defeat. In his opinion, less friction would occur if cold met with cold.

"Is Miss Kinomoto the daughter of Kinomoto Fujitaka?" she asked right away, not wasting time on the affections that a mother was obliged to give to a child whom she had not seen for awhile. This topic was expected. His parents were all about leverage, seeking every possible opportunity to expand their business empire in order to rebuild their so-called "Li Clan Dominance" over China like it used to be before Syaoran's Grandfather died. Now, the Li Clan only had control over 40% of the country's economy as supposed to the 80% almost 30 years ago, and his parents were anxious to get the power back, although they were already in the Top 10 wealthiest people in the world, according to Forbes 2010.

"No, Kinomoto Fujitaka does not have a daughter," he answered. He had always known about Sakura's family background, but he never mentioned it to anyone, except for Eriol, because he respected the fact that Sakura might have had wanted it hidden since she never once brought up the subject voluntarily.

If that was her decision, he wanted to protect her from his parents.

"Oh?" Yelan, sounding less interested than before, if possible. "How perfect it would be if she were a hidden heiress…"

Syaoran was grateful that his Mother knew nothing about Sakura. However, even if she had tried and hired investigators to search her up, she would get a return of false information because someone had blocked all access of Sakura's personal information from the outside world, just a few days after he had asked his investigator for a report on Sakura's background. For that, Syaoran wanted to thank the anonymous individual.

"Is there something else that you wanted to speak to me about?" Syaoran questioned. He was impatient to get out of this suffocating room.

"Tonight is your Father's important celebration. I want you to be on your best behaviour and don't do anything to displease or anger him. You may leave to go see your Father now," she said, before dismissing him from her room.

Syaoran gave his Mother a bow and left the Study. Once the door closed behind him, he heaved a sigh. This was the type of relationship he had with his parents. They were the rulers and he was the subject. They commanded, while he obeyed. He never enjoyed freedom because according to them, every one of their decisions was good for him and therefore, it wasn't necessary to give him the freedom that he wanted. That was the reason for his escape to Japan four years ago after he graduated from university. He had achieved the highest score out of his class, as he had promised, and they allowed him to roam free for once in his life.

Sometimes, he wished that he could go back to the States where he wouldn't have to see them.

Syaoran's meeting with his Father did not happen that afternoon because Li Shen had called an urgent meeting with his fellow advisors in his library. Syaoran was content about his Father's unavailability as he sauntered back to the Guest Room.

* * *

Much to Syaoran's displeasure, Sakura had decided to share a bedroom, out of the fifty or so at the Li Estate, with Tomoyo instead of him, in order to get ready for the party that was about to take place in an hour. She wanted to spend some alone time with her best friend and sort out some of the perturbed feelings that had been going through her since their arrival at the Estate.

The conversation did not reach far when a knock on their door interrupted them. "Yes?" Tomoyo asked politely in Japanese, forgetting that they were in Hong Kong.

It was a maid. "Lady Yelan would like to see Miss Kinomoto," she said in fluent Japanese. Tomoyo was impressed by the service that this household had.

Sakura placed the cherry blossom on black Qipao dress, which Syaoran had prepared for her, on the bed and followed toward the door.

"Syaoran's Mother wants to see you." Tomoyo turned to Sakura, hiding the worried gaze from the maid.

"Okay. Where do I have to go?" Sakura questioned the maid.

"Please follow me," the maid replied. Sakura nodded, assured Tomoyo with a squeeze on her hand, and left.

They descended down two flight of stairs and meandered through the indoor patio, until they finally reached a grand wooden door that led them into Li Yelan's Study.

"夫人，我把木之本小姐带来了."( I've brought Miss Kinomoto, Ma'am.) The maid announced before stepping back out of the door and closing it behind her.

Li Yelan watched Sakura piercingly as Sakura closed their distance. "I am Syaoran's Mother, Li Yelan." Her Japanese was fluent, as if she were a Japanese native.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Li," Sakura greeted politely. No matter from far away or close up, Syaoran's Mother was a strikingly beautiful woman, and intimidating one, at that.

Yelan didn't offer Sakura a seat or a drink, but simply stared at her with those ice cold eyes. Sakura could tell that behind those emotionless eyes was strong dislike for her.

"I can tell that you are very important to my son, since you are the only girl who he has ever brought back to Hong Kong," she began, not taking her eyes off of her. "But Syaoran is not just anyone. He will be responsible for the well-being of millions of people all over the world once he takes over Li Corporation. And you will be the reason that drags him behind. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

Li Yelan's candid words were exactly the ones that answered the reason behind those disconcerted feelings. With a business empire to this extent, they had no choice but to move forward in order to answer the demands of those who worked for them. By moving forward, they had to invest and merge. Syaoran, being the only son, would be the most valuable weapon for the future of the company.

If Sakura had decided to rejoin her family on the world stage, maybe Li Yelan wouldn't have said these words to her, and maybe she would have been a suitable candidate for Syaoran's "bride catalogue." However, the problem was that she didn't feel the urge to disclose her identity for Syaoran. She just didn't feel she was ready to give up her freedom and dream of becoming a doctor for him…

"I understand. I will make sure not to get in his way when the time comes," Sakura declared in an ascertain voice.

Yelan's face unexpectedly pulled up into a small approving smile. "You are a very intelligent girl, Sakura. You may leave now."

When Sakura left the room, she found Syaoran already waiting for her outside, looking deep in thought. His body was rested against the wall with his hands in his pant pockets.

Sakura snuck up to him quietly and poked a finger into his stomach. But, his abs was so hard that she ended up hurting herself.

"Ouch," she cried, examining her finger, then glared at his body. Syaoran broke out of his trance with a half-crooked smile. He took her finger in his hand and gave it a light kiss.

"Don't you know karma is a bitch, darling?" he questioned, delighted by her expression. "What did my Mother say to you?" Although he attempted to force a casual voice, the anguish was evident.

Sakura looked up from her finger into his eyes. She began to feel sudden consciousness of guilt from what she had said earlier to his Mother.

"She didn't say anything, really. Just said 'Hi' and asked if I'm enjoying my trip in Hong Kong," she replied with a shrug. When he showed her a disbelieving look, she returned a small persuading smile.

"You don't believe me?" she asked.

Syaoran sighed and nodded, "I do." He took her hand in his and guided her back to her room.

Really, he didn't believe her at all. His Mother was simply not that type of person.

* * *

The celebration took place in an open-style courtyard located on the other side of the residential wing. It was a celebration of glamour, a spectacular affair one month in the making. At the courtyard entrance, a projection of fireworks lit up the gradually darkening sky, so guests could step straight into the ambience the moment they arrived. A string orchestra played Italian opera on an elevated stage right in the centre of the courtyard. The interior featured Victorian-style sofas and tables set with antique silverware and delicate silk rose bouquet. The only source of light at the event was lit candles, in an attempt to create a relaxed atmosphere.

Guests included important figures, such as politicians, foreign aristocrats, Li Shen's business partners and their sons and daughters, executives, as well as other A-List public figures. Security guarded the different entrances to keep out unidentified individuals and the press (only a few media groups were selected to attend and report on this event, without any type of recording devices), while staff at the Li Estate patrolled around to serve the guests.

Li Shen and Li Yelan did not appear in the first half-an-hour of the party. As their son, Syaoran automatically became the centre of attention and the go-to for the guests. He was a natural socialite, just like Tomoyo, trained from an early age to interact with different types of people and to control the flow of all conversations. He was so good at this job that those who he spoke to felt genuinely engaged because of his allure and personality, as well as their curiosity towards his life as a famous celebrity.

Sakura, who was the only one in a traditional Chinese Qipao, became quite an attention-seeker herself. She was, no doubt, stunning in the dress but what else made the heads of the guests turned wherever she went was due to Syaoran's presence next to her. Those who were lucky and were invited in the years from the past knew that Syaoran always attended this event solo. This made some of the second-generation daughters glare at her in envy and stared at her in awe.

At the party Sakura got to meet Syaoran's cousin, Li Meiling. She was a tall, slender young woman with amber eyes like Syaoran's and sleek black hair that reached her mid-back. Since she was the President's only niece, she became another guest-attraction herself. Once when Syaoran and Sakura passed by her, she was busily conversing with a group of young guests that she couldn't stop by to say hi to Sakura. However, she had managed a quick smile at Sakura before they moved onto the other part of the courtyard, and that was enough to leave a good impression on Sakura.

While Syaoran was talking to the guests, Sakura escaped from his arm. She planned on staying apart from Syaoran at the party because she didn't like the attention that she was receiving, nor enjoyed the possible spying on her by those who received order from Li Yelan. She moved to Tomoyo whenever Eriol wasn't with her, but Tomoyo herself was busy conversing with the other guests on behalf of her Mother while trying to pull some strings for her own company. Somehow, Syaoran always managed to slip her hand back into his when she was not paying attention.

When Li Shen and Li Yelan entered the scene at last, all eyes turned to them and those who were close greeted. Syaoran noticed that his Father had aged severely since the last time he came to Hong Kong. He had more wrinkles on his forehead and had to be supported by a cane in one hand and his Mother's arm in another. The sight made Syaoran a little sad.

To Sakura, Li Shen was an older version of Syaoran, the same tall nose, same high cheekbones, same eye shape, same messy chestnut-coloured hair…except for the moustache. Now, she understood why Syaoran was so handsome. Both of his parents were such beautiful people! Although he had to be supported when he walked, he was just as poised and elegant as his wife and received respect wherever he went.

Syaoran told Sakura to wait for him near the buffet, while he went to greet his Father. He did not say it out loud, but the purpose of doing that was to keep her as far from them as possible in order to prevent unnecessary trouble. Sakura, on the other hand, was more than satisfied about the distance.

She looked on, having a feeling that the greeting would take a long time, and decided to use the washroom.

"Good evening, my friends," she heard Li Yelan's voice being amplified throughout the courtyard before she went inside the house. A hint of emotion was unearthed in her voice for the sole purpose of etiquette.

The inside of the mansion felt empty and quiet in comparison to the courtyard. A maid with a tray of drinks bowed to her quickly before rushing out of the door.

"Sakura," a very familiar voice sounded disapprovingly behind her. As she turned her head, she felt her body being pushed against the wall in a matter of seconds.

It was Touya. He had one of his hands pressed onto the wall behind her head and semi-trapped her like a cage before she was able to react.

"T-touya," she said, eyes blinking confusedly. Why was her brother at this party? How long had he even been there for?

"Are you surprised to see me here?" he asked. His tone was weird and expression was unintelligible.

Sakura nodded. She was starting to dislike the predicament.

"You must have turned off your phone then. Kaho is probably dreading at home at the moment for not being able to reach you. Do you know why I'm—"

"Fuck!" he cried in pain as his face suddenly got attacked by a girl with blatant pink streaks in her black bob-styled hair. The girl had a black tank top and a pair of blue jeans on, which was a clashing set of attire at this sort of event.

"Stay away from her!" she warned Touya in English. The girl was a strong woman, and not much older than Sakura, for she was able to punch the Touya that towered her by exactly a head.

"Who the hell are you?" Touya replied in English, annoyance all across his face, when he recovered from the punch. A red fist imprint was evident on his cheek. The girl had mistaken Touya's position for hostility and wanted to defend Sakura.

Three female bodyguards dressed in black suits ran from the direction that the girl had appeared from. Two of them picked her up by the arms, literally lifting her off of the ground, and began carrying her toward the courtyard. One of them apologized to Touya, before lifting both of the girl's legs in order to restrain her movement. Sakura noticed that the girl had no shoes on at all.

"把我放下来！！" (Let me go!) the girl screamed to her bodyguards, kicking into the air.

Touya and Sakura stared at their retreating backs in amazement. Everything just happened in a blink of an eye.

"That was weird," Sakura said to her brother, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Do you even know that brat?" Touya asked in a pissed off tone, while his hand massaged his face. Damn, that girl was strong.

"Nope," she replied, turning back to her brother." So, why are you here? Don't you hate these public events?"

Touya stopped his work at the face and began in an antagonistic voice. "I came to tell you that I've decided to withdraw from that project with Li Shen's company if you don't leave Li Syaoran right away."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. His brother flew all the way here just to tell her this?

"What happened to the old Touya?" she asked, as if she found Touya's behaviour funny. "Why have you lost your cool to this kind of insignificant things?"

Sakura thought Touya was joking, but unfortunately, he was not. "I don't think you understand the impact this withdrawal will have on Li Corps. 40% of the country's economy is in their hands. If this project is cancelled, hundreds of thousands of people will be left with no jobs."

Sakura's face paled. "Why are you doing this? Did you enter this project just to use it to threaten me?"

"Of course not. I joined because this project is the best so far for us to enter the market in Asia. But my stupid sister just had to sign that stupid fake-dating deal and made me sacrifice this great opportunity."

"But this is self-destruction for you too!" she cried in desperation.

"It doesn't matter. I can start over again. It's not like I haven't done that after the Recession. But them? They won't be able to stand up ever again."

As Touya's words sank in, Sakura began to calm herself. The only way to solve the problem now was to handle everything in a peaceful manner.

"Did you really think we would last, Touya?" Sakura asked her brother, at last, in a renewed sense of confidence. Her face showed the curiosity that matched her tone of voice.

"The only reason why you are so worked up right now is because you think he's playing around with me so that I could be of use to his parents, right? What makes you think that I'm not doing the same? What makes you think that I'm just stupidly falling into his trap? I will break it off as soon as Tomoyo's contract with him is over, so don't you worry." This was the only way in Sakura's mind at the moment to get her point across. She was not scared of her brother and she was not going to give into him so easily. But exactly what was keeping her from breaking off the relationship despite pressure from both side of her and Syaoran's family? Because naturally, leaving Syaoran would have been her automatic answer before.

Touya studied her as his eyes narrowed. What was on his sister's mind?

"I don't care what you plan on doing, but right now more than 100,000 people's lives depend on your one decision. I'll give you one day to decide while I'm still in Hong Kong. Once you break it off with him, you must return to New York with me immediately," Touya finalized.

Without listening for a reply, he began walking back into the courtyard, mumbling under his breath. "I don't know why I let you come back in the first place."

Sakura's legs became weak. She had to hold against the wall for support, as she slowly walked back to the party scene. 100,000 people's lives were in her hands, but she didn't want to break it off with him…

From the very back of the crowd that gathered before the stage, waiting for Li Shen to make his way up the stage for his speech, Sakura watched as Syaoran, Yelan, and Meiling stood behind Li Shen on the stage.

"Good evening," Li Shen said in English and in an unexpectedly powerful voice. "Thank you for coming to this celebration. 29 years ago today, I was the young and ambitious Li Shen who took over my Father's position as the new President of Li Corporation. 29 years later, I am still the ambitious President that has achieved the great success of the company, which I once promised to do. I would still like to keep going, but it looks like my time is up! I'm getting too old!" The crowd erupted into a loud cheer at his humorous comment.

"Today, I have two important announcements to make. The first and foremost, I have decided to retire in the upcoming January of 2012. My son, Li Syaoran, will take my place as the new President of Li Corporation." Li Shen placed his hand on Syaoran's shoulder upon his referral, with a proud smile on his face.

The shock on Syaoran's face was obvious to Sakura but was well-hidden from the rest of the crowd. He stepped up to the front of the stage, alongside his Father.

"And the second announcement is one that I am very happy to be announcing. My good friend Li Lian Soo's daughter, Miss Li Ruo Xi, and Li Syaoran are officially engaged!"

Upon the final announcement, the entire courtyard erupted into a round of congratulatory applause and held up their champagne for a toast.

Then, the three bodyguards carried the girl, who had "saved" Sakura back inside the house, onto the stage. In comparison to the level of energy she had back then, now she looked as if she were on the verge of collapsing into slumber right on the stage. In the arms of the bodyguards, she no longer struggled against them and behaved like a tired puppy.

Her name was Li Ruo Xi, Syaoran's new fiancée.

* * *

Valkyrie85: Pressure from both side of the family, a threat from Touya, a new job for Syaoran...and a FIANCEE? What is going to happen? How will Syaoran react? Most importantly, how will Sakura react since she doesn't seem like she's sure about her feelings for Syaoran yet...? :O

8,502 words. I think I deserve a review, don't you think?


	19. Chapter 19

**Valkyrie85: **Hello, hello! It's me again! Thank you for your reviews. I enjoyed reading some of your mixed reactions to the last chapter! A few of you asked me if the engagement scene was inspired by Hana Yori Dango or Boys Over Flower (for those who don't know, one is a Japanese and one is a Korean drama based on the same plot of a manga). You were absolutely right! I should've mentioned this in the last chapter's Author's Note...I hope this isn't plagiarizing ;s But anyways, there's just one thing that I must correct you. It wasn't really any of the version that inspired me. It was actually the Taiwanese version, called Meteor Garden. I know I don't make any sense right now since they are all based on the same thing, right? Well, you're right again, but because Meteor Garden holds a special place in my heart, I must give all the credit related to the engagement to this drama : )

Another reviewer asked me how many chapters I plan on writing for this story. The answer is around 24 to 26 chapters. So, please keep on supporting this story till the very end!

**Chapter 19 **

* * *

"老头，你在说什么鬼话？"Syaoran, feeling dumbfounded, asked his Father under his breath while keeping a calm façade for the clapping audience (What the hell are you talking about, Old Man?). First his Father announced his retirement, without previously acknowledged by him, and now an engagement? Who the hell wanted to take over the company? Who the hell wanted to get married? He gave a quick look at the stranger cradled in the bodyguards' arms. There could only be one reason behind her sleeping form: she was drugged with sleeping pills.

Li Shen replied in an equally quiet voice, "你给我闭嘴." (Shut your mouth)

Syaoran sneered at his Father's comment, before exploding with retorts. At this moment, he didn't care if his reluctance was obvious to the guests."我有说过我要继承你的位子吗？我有说过我要结婚吗？不要老是控制我的人生！"(Did I ever say I wanted to take over the corporation? Did I ever say I wanted to get married? Don't control my life!)

His Mother suddenly stepped up to the front of the stage on his right and placed her hand on his shoulder as if to show their guests her congratulations for his engagement. "李小狼, 这是跟你父亲说话的态度吗？" she mumbled warningly under her breath. (Li Xiao Lang, is this how you speak to your Father?)

Syaoran shook off Yelan's hand violently and searched for Sakura among the crowd. It was not difficult to find the only girl dressed in a black qipao walking back into the mansion all by herself.

He quickly slipped away from his parents, about to jump off of the stage, but the girl with the pink streaks grabbed the sleeve of his dress shirt and forced him to come to a halt.

"带我一起走，" she pleaded tiredly to Syaoran (Take me with you.). There was a moment of hesitation for Syaoran because he thought that they may have been on the same boat. But as Sakura's image flashed in his head, he jerked his sleeve out of the girl's hold.

Then, he jumped off of the stage, feeling the slightest bit of guilt, and cut his way through the astonished crowd.

"把所有的门都关上." He heard Yelan order a bodyguard before making his escape. (Shut all the doors immediately.)

* * *

The impact of Syaoran's engagement hit Sakura harder than she had imagined. There had been shock similar to what the rest of the guests felt, but there was also an unbearable pain in the chest. Certainly, her feelings for him must not have been so deep to the point that she would feel sad over it. At least, that's what she had thought before tears began to roll down her face as she walked into the mansion, not having a clue where her destination was. All she had wanted to do was to get out of the courtyard.

As if for comfort, she had told herself that Syaoran's engagement granted her a valid excuse to disregard her earlier unwillingness and to leave Japan for good. She had also told herself that this was a good chance to end everything between her and Syaoran—the fake relationship, her hectic lifestyle as a result of Syaoran's publicized career, and their "blooming" romance, according to Tomoyo…

When she heard Syaoran's calling of her name and saw him chasing after her, that was when she realized how much she had really liked him. It was only when she was going to lose him that she finally understood her feelings. At that moment, she allowed nature to take its course and felt herself being pulled through the mansion by him.

They couldn't have escaped without Meiling's help that evening. As supposed to bringing Syaoran back to his parents, like she had promised her Aunt, she called for a driver and told him to send them back to Syaoran's apartment.

Before the car departed, Meiling spoke to Sakura with a grin, "It's nice to see you again, Sakura. I'll visit you and Xiao Lang in Japan next time!"

The word "again" left Sakura pondering. Did they know each other from before?

* * *

Back in Syaoran's apartment, Syaoran was kneeled before Sakura on the floor, while she sat on the edge of the sofa. He stared at her intently, but her eyes never once lifted to meet his.

"Sakura, look at me," he said to her in a serious tone. When she didn't lift her eyes, he did the deed gently with both of his hands on each side of her face. Her slightly wet emerald eyes gazed into his deep dark amber ones.

"Do you like me?" he asked. He could sense that her feelings for him were developing slowly, and he needed confirmation.

Sakura hesitated before nodding. It wasn't uncertainty that stopped her anymore, it was pride. "I do."

Syaoran's solemnity disappeared and was replaced by a charming smile. Although his feeling in return was more than "like," her answer was enough for him at the moment. He was willing to work hard and make her love him back.

"Then, I'm not going to marry that girl," he replied, as if the matter could be controlled by him.

Her eyes fixed on him, trying to guess his thoughts. He was acting way too relaxed that she felt something was wrong. "You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because your parents made the decision."

He gave a half-crooked grin. "And who says I have to listen to them? They told me I couldn't go to Japan, yet I still did. Now I am one of Asia's hottest stars." The confidence which he depicted in his statement did not match what he felt inside. They were his parents, and he knew the kind of things they could and couldn't accept.

She rolled her eyes at his self-satisfied comment, before replying. "You can't run away from them forever, Syaoran." Just like I can't run away from mine, was what she added inside her head.

What Syaoran's parents had done tonight further confirmed her impression of these types of influential families: they were all about power and status. They would sell out their children just to expand their empire. With a future similar to this, she should leave Syaoran and stop "getting in his way," according to his Mother. She should leave him before their feelings for each other deepened…

Both her thought and heart came to an abrupt stop when Syaoran held her hands against his face and muttered with a sorrowful look, "Don't leave me, Sakura. Stay by my side…"

These words made her change her mind.

That night while Syaoran was cooking ramen downstairs, she decided to call her brother in the upstairs bathroom. She told Syaoran that she was going to take a shower so that he didn't suspect. Before she dialled the number, she noticed more than twenty voicemails from her sister-in-law.

"Did he elope with you?" was Touya's instant answer once he picked up. His voice was very strained.

Sakura couldn't help but blush at the question. She ignored it and went straight to her point. "I'll leave, but…"

"But what?"

"But you have to give me until September."

"Why September? Don't think you don't have to come back if you secretly marry him or have his kid before then."

Sakura exhaled softly before continuing with the excuse that she had invented. "Think about it. If I leave with you tomorrow, what will the hospital think of me? What will my mentor think of me? I would be very irresponsible in their eyes and their views will affect my studies in New York. Also, I need to wait at least until the pictures for Tomoyo's photo shoot are out. What if they need to do some retakes or something? And what about grandma and grandpa? I have to spend some time with them before I go!"

"For the hospital and the mentor, I'll talk to them. I fund them anyways. For the photos, I'll pay for your one-day ticket if Tomoyo really needs you. For grandma and grandpa, I'll talk to them and you could visit them on a weekend." Sakura was getting angry that her brother just basically backfired all of her well thought-out excuses.

She had to think of something…something fast before he hung up. "Just give me until September, Touya. It's not like anything more will happen between me and him! He just got engaged, for God's sake! Would I go through this much trouble for an engaged man?"

That did it. Silence on the other line meant that Touya was considering her words.

"Fine, September."

With that, he hung up without another word. Sakura felt quite triumphant. A smile pulled at the corner of her lips.

Even though she knew that she and Syaoran weren't destined to be together, she wanted to fight for the last bit of time they could share together.

The next morning when Sakura woke up, Syaoran was not beside her. Instead, she found a hand-written note by him on his pillow.

_Sakura,_

_My Old Man had a heart attack last night. I have to go see him right away. If I don't return before our flight, leave without me. Tomoyo and Eriol will probably make it, though. Don't worry about me. _

_Love, _

_Syaoran_

* * *

"江医生，我父亲还好吧？"Syaoran approached his Father's physician in the hallway and asked as the physician closed the bedroom door quietly behind him (Doctor Jiang, is my Father okay?).

The middle-aged doctor shook his head. He closed their distance and placed his big hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "对不起少爷，只剩三个月了." (I am very sorry, young master. There's only 3 months left.)

Syaoran's eyes widened. "什么？怎么可能只剩三个月？！他不是只有心脏病吗？" (What? How is it possible that he only has 3 months left when he's only had a heart attack?)

"少爷您不知道吗？老爷有的是白血病，已经最晚期了." (Don't you know, young master? has leukemia. It's in the advanced stage.)

Syaoran slammed his parents' bedroom door in rage. His Father was on the far side of the room, resting in bed with clear tubes twisted around him, while the sound of the monitor beeped in the background. His Mother was standing on the near side of the room giving quiet orders to two maids.

The two maids were startled, but Yelan simply looked at Syaoran with her signature expressionless face.

"为什么不告诉我？" he yelled at his Mother (Why didn't you tell me?). Yelan waved the two maids out of the room, before replying to Syaoran. Once the door was closed, she walked to Syaoran and slapped him across his face.

(From here on, everything will be spoken in Mandarin. )

" How do you expect us to tell you, you bad child? You even ran off with that woman! Do you know that the minute your Father left the stage, he had a heart attack because of you? All of those guests saw him collapse, and today Li Corp.'s stock plummeted!" This was one of the rare moments that Yelan showed her emotions, but even at the climax of her anger, Yelan's face was only slightly flushed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Syaoran inquired again, this time in a lower voice.

Yelan turned away from her son and replied, "What's the use of telling you? You would not be able to cure him."

Syaoran pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. How did things become like this? "I understand. I will finish my work in Japan quickly and return to Hong Kong soon." As unwilling as he was, it was still his family. He had to be there.

"But," he added, "I will not marry that woman."

"That's not your choice, Xiao Lang. Li Ruo Xi is the descendant of a distant branch of the Li Clan. It is your and her job to keep our Clan alive," Yelan, now back to her old composed self, said.

"If she's a descendant of our clan, that's basically like marrying Meiling!" Syaoran retorted. It was a disgusting thought.

"You two are not connected, whatsoever. We have made sure of that. If there is, that would only be very, very little. But, that's not a problem since all humans are connected in such a way."

Syaoran was certain that keeping their clan alive was not the only reason behind the engagement. "And, what else?"

"What else what?"

"What else is part of this engagement? Are they offering a piece of land that you desperately want?" Syaoran asked with a smirk.

His Mother stopped wiping Shen's arm with a warm cloth and looked at her son. "The public is slowly suspecting your Father's health. The only way to force those thoughts out of them is to rebuild their trust. Ruo Xi's parents have the land in the rural areas of Mainland China that we need. They offered the land only under one condition, and that is to marry Ruo Xi off to you."

It was expected. His parents had always used people around them to get what they wanted, even their own marriage was part of a business deal between their families. Syaoran had to think of a plan quickly before everything was set. That was when Eriol knocked on the door before receiving permission from Yelan to enter.

"Aunt," he greeted Yelan with a polite smile. (In China, young people would greet their elders by calling them Aunt or Uncle. It doesn't necessarily mean they are blood-related. In this case, because Eriol is rather close to Syaoran, he is allowed to call Yelan that.) "How is Uncle?"

"He is resting at the moment," Yelan replied, looking at Eriol.

"I'm here to say goodbye because Daidouji and I are leaving, now," Eriol said.

He gave his friend a concerned gaze before walking past him towards Yelan.

"Have a safe flight," Yelan told Eriol. Eriol nodded in return and bowed before turning around to leave the room.

Syaoran quickly extended his arm in his friend's way to stop him from leaving. His plan required Eriol's help. "Mother, I can't get engaged at the moment."

Eriol looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow. Syaoran gave him a pointed look towards his Mother, hinting at his situation.

"At the moment?" Yelan questioned.

Eriol caught onto Syaoran' plan quickly and turned back to Yelan again. "Excuse me for this intrusion into your family business, Aunt, but since Syaoran is under my company, I have to say a few words."

Yelan nodded for Eriol's request and waited for him to continue.

"It is a rather complicated matter, but to keep it short, Miss Kinomoto and Syaoran both signed a contract at my company agreeing to fake a relationship for promotional purposes. So with the recent engagement announcement, it has affected their publicized relationship status." Syaoran felt blessed to have such an intelligent friend by his side. He made a mental note to treat Eriol afterward.

"And when does this contract end?" Yelan asked.

Eriol and Syaoran both remained silent at the question. Syaoran was contemplating on how much time he wanted and needed to think up a better excuse to post-pone the engagement, but before he came out with a satisfying answer that he could whisper to Eriol, Eriol spoke up.

"This contract ends in September. I am aware that Uncle has decided to retire next year, and so this relationship is very important for Syaoran because there is an upcoming once-in-a-lifetime Awards Ceremony at the end of August for all actors in Asia and Syaoran needs that status to promote himself. This will probably be a good way to end Syaoran's career in the entertainment industry."

Syaoran took back his earlier thoughts about his friend. Why September, for God's sake? If his Mother was open for discussion, Eriol should have said January, or something. However, he decided not to butt in and silently waited for his Mother's final decision.

"Xiao Lang, is this what you wish for? Will you give your best to the company once the Award Ceremony is over?" Yelan, who for once in her life wanted to hear Syaoran's voice on a matter, looked at her son intently.

Syaoran gave her a nod.

"Then, I will speak to Ruo Xi's parents about this. You have until September to get all of your current business sorted out."

Syaoran walked over to his Father, who was still asleep on the bed, bowed to his parents and left the room with Eriol without another word.

"Why September?" Syaoran asked Eriol the minute the door closed.

"Because they won't suspect anything that way. You have a valid excuse for September but you won't have anything left for the dates beyond that," Eriol told his friend matter-of-factly.

Syaoran knew his friend was right. Now, it was a challenge for him to think up an excuse to cancel the engagement before September.

As they walked down the corridor, Li Ruo Xi and two of her bodyguards came towards them from the other side. They walked past each other without saying a word, for Syaoran wanted nothing to do with her and she didn't recognize him.

When one of the bodyguards gave Syaoran a quick bow and a greeting, "Good morning young master," Li Ruo Xi abruptly stopped in her track and almost made the bodyguards bump into her.

She turned swiftly to Syaoran and questioned with widened eyes, "Are you Li Syaoran?"

Syaoran didn't plan on answering her, but Eriol smacked him in the arm lightly and forced him to reply. "Yeah."

As he turned his head, Li Ruo Xi ran up to him and kicked him hard in the shin. "You bastard! I told you to take me with you yesterday!"

* * *

It had been four days since Sakura last talked to Syaoran. From Tomoyo, she'd learned that Syaoran was back in Tokyo on Monday but was busy filming, so he didn't visit Sakura. She could understand that, but why couldn't Syaoran give her a call and tell her that he had safely arrived? She found herself acting silly over such a small thing, but she just couldn't help having her thoughts wonder off to him.

Today was her first time doing a night shift at the hospital. Her, the nurses, and Shin would stay overnight for the shift.

It was a quiet night. At different times, she would go around with the nurses to do clinic check and to turn the lights in the patient rooms off. Other times, Sakura would input data, which Shin had assigned her before he went home to check up on Michio.

At first, she tried keeping her bored mind occupied with the conversation she had with Shin two days ago when her body check report came out. He had said that there wasn't a part in her body that was malfunctioning and was causing her those headaches. Instead, he said that the headaches were due to her slowly healing brain injury and the dispersing blood clot in her brain. The headaches were actually a good sign that she was going to get her memories back soon.

She wasn't sure what to think of this, and ironic enough, she began experiencing small hammering pain in her head. Taking a break from the computer, she walked over to her colleagues' desk.

"What are you guys looking at?" she asked two of her colleagues who were giggling at something in the computer screen they were looking at. Akane and the other two nurses were doing their shift. Sakura looked over their heads and found them scrolling down a collection of Syaoran's pictures, many of which were half-naked ones that showed off his well-toned abs.

The nurse that had the pink lips quickly minimized the webpage and looked up shamefully. "Sorry, Sakura," she apologized softly with a blush on her cheeks that matched the colour of her lips.

"For? He's a celebrity after all," Sakura said to her with a smile, as if her boyfriend's body could be seen by other girls wasn't a big deal for her. Inside, she was feeling quite the opposite.

The other nurse looked up at Sakura in wonder. "Have you seen it in person? Is it real?" she asked excitedly.

The pink-lipped nurse replied for Sakura, "Of course she's seen it. Look at how loving they are when they're around each other. He even bought her that really expensive painting! Sakura, I saw the clip they posted on YouTube of you and him in the Hong Kong airport. Wasn't it hectic?"

Sakura mentally slapped her head. She shouldn't have tried to find something to ease her boredom. Their questioning was even worse than the data input stuff.

"You two, get back to work," Akane's voice said scoldingly to the two nurses when she returned by herself. "The A4 patient just wet his bed. You two need to change the sheets for him."

The two nurses rose from their seat quickly and headed towards the destination, their heads lowered in shame.

"Sakura, I'm going out to buy a cup of coffee. Do you want one?" Akane asked in a gentler voice to Sakura after the nurses left.

"I'm fine, thank you," Sakura replied with a shook of her head. Coffee wasn't on her mind right now, but food was…She didn't want to bother Akane too much, so she didn't mention it.

After Akane left, it was just Sakura in their department. Sakura yawned lazily and went back to entering data.

Her famish state made her extra sensitive to the smell of food. As she was busy typing away, she suddenly smelt a delicious mixture scent of Miso soup, teriyaki sauce and fried tempura. She turned her head to the source of the smell and found a tall man in a blue v-neck shirt and a black cap that covered his eyes, giving a perfect white-teeth smile at her. A white plastic bag that neatly tied the food boxes inside hung on two of his fingers carelessly.

He took off his cap and revealed his handsome face to Sakura. The smile never left his face as he placed the bag on the front counter. "Did you miss me, love?" Syaoran asked jokingly to Sakura.

Sakura felt her heart starting to pound faster than normal. Finally being able to see his face was a wonderful thing, but she wasn't about to give in so easily after his four day of no-show. "What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, hiding her joy.

"I came to see my girlfriend, of course. And I brought her food. I figured she might be hungry on her first night-shift."

Sakura walked closer to him, but remained on her side of the counter.

"Aren't you going to come to my side and greet me with a kiss?" he asked with a pout. She quickly scanned the foyer to see if anyone was nearby. Luckily, it was as empty as before.

"Where have you been for the past four days?" she inquired and crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't stop herself before the words came out. Why had she become like this?

"I've been filming 18 hours a day for the past three days, today included. In fact, it just ended about an hour ago," he said tiredly, but still managed to pull off a half-crooked smile.

Sakura started feeling a bit guilty for her childishness. She bit her lip nervously before giving in, "I'm glad to see you."

Syaoran slowly leaned in to kiss her. Her heart was beating even faster and harder than before. She gulped, waiting for his lips, but was interrupted by a sudden outcry.

"Oh my God! It's Li Syaoran! He's here to visit Sakura!" one of the two other pair of nurses screamed in excitement at seeing Syaoran. She raced towards him and demanded for a picture and an autograph on her arm.

"Thank you, thank you! Oh, and you brought food too!" the nurse clapped her hands happily at the food on the counter, thinking that the food was for all of them to share.

The less naïve nurse pulled her to the side, said something to her, and then the two of them quietly left. "Sakura, you could use the staff lounge," the less naïve one told them before they disappeared down the hall.

After a quick twenty minutes of eating, they returned to the foyer, making sure that they weren't holding hands. As if someone had ordered the nurses to stay calm and respectful, they did not react to Syaoran's presence like the one from before had. They seemed as if they were busy with their work at their desks but Sakura knew that they were listening keenly to their conversation, regardless.

"Don't sleep here. You should have a good night's sleep for tomorrow's shooting," Sakura told Syaoran for the fifth time that night because Syaoran had said that he wanted to stay at the hospital with her since he didn't feel the hospital was safe.

He rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother. I know. Call me when you're leaving the hospital tomorrow morning."

Sakura nodded. "See you on Friday." He gave her hand a quick squeeze before leaving for the door. If it weren't for Sakura's orders, he would have kissed her right on the spot.

On the way out, he saw Shin coming in with a bagful of hot food just like the one he had brought for Sakura. Without giving it much of a thought, he gave a brief nod to Shin and left.

* * *

When Syaoran visited her at the hospital that day, he had told her that he and his film crew were to travel to Yokohama on the weekend to film for parts of their movie, and asked her if she wanted to go with him. Taking that as a good opportunity to visit her grandparents, Sakura had agreed. Today, she was taking her luggage to Syaoran's house and was going to stay over at his house since he said that their crew would leave early the next morning.

As the elevator doors opened, she rolled her small suitcase in one hand out to the corridor while her other carried two bags of grocery. When she called him yesterday, Syaoran had said that his filming would end at around 8 or 9 at night, so she decided to buy some groceries and "cook" a meal for him.

She pressed the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. She knew it was silly and unnecessary since he had told her the passcode to his house and that he wouldn't be home at this time. Regardless, she still did it, not wanting to barge into his house uninvited.

When the first ring received no answer, she slid open the passcode pad, about to enter the 6-digit code.

That was when the door unexpectedly opened.

"请问你找谁？" Li Ruo Xi stepped out of the house and asked Sakura in Chinese. (Who are you looking for?)

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** Woahh! What's going on? Why is Li Ruo Xi in Syaoran's house? xp

In your review, please give me some constructive criticism. I would like to know if things are progressing too slowly/too quickly, too dramatically...etc Especially tell me what you think about the progress of Syaoran and Sakura's relationship (and guesses on where the relationship is heading).

Recently, I've been reading quite a number of oneshots because I'm thinking of expanding my writing to the oneshot stories. In fact, I wrote my first ever oneshot just last week! It's called "Because I Am." Make sure to check it out after you leave a review! Thank you! : )


	20. Chapter 20

**Valkyrie85:** Honestly, last chapter's reviews were some of the best I've ever received because I got to learn so much about what you liked and disliked about this story, which helped me improve. Thank you! I love you all! : )

Here are some answers to the FAQs:

1. What is the relationship between Shin, the mentor, and Sakura?

Their relationship, so far, is strictly student-mentor. However, if you were able to pick out the hints that I put in while you read the previous chapters, you would realize that their relationship is slowly being built, although in an nonobvious way, for a much greater developmental effect in the later chapters xp

2. When is Sakura going to get her memory back?

I usually don't like to spoil the story, but because many of you are getting impatient with this no-memory stuff, I'll just do it this once. It's NEXT CHAPTER. I bet if you are reading this right now, you are saying "yah!" or something along the line of that. But there's just one question that I must ask you to consider as you read through this chapter and the next. Do you think by having Sakura remembering their past will "improve" their relationship?

**Chapter 20**

* * *

"请问你找谁？" Li Ruo Xi stepped out of the house and asked in Chinese. (Who are you looking for?)

Upon seeing the girl's petite face and her bright pink streaks, Sakura could only blink in confusion. As seconds ticked by, her chest began to tighten.

As if realizing that she wasn't in Hong Kong anymore, Ruo Xi asked Sakura again in English, a language which she was fluent in due to years of tutoring at a young age. "Who are you looking for?"

She gazed down at Sakura's occupied hands and then back at Sakura, a knowing smile appeared on her face. "Are you the fake girlfriend?" she asked. "You're the friend who's helping Li Xiao Lang, right? Hi, I'm Li Ruo Xi."

Sakura's mouth opened, but no words left her mouth. "The fake girlfriend" was what Ruo Xi described her to be, which would have been correct if Sakura and Syaoran remained as a contracted couple. However, now that they were no longer faking the relationship, Sakura took offence to Ruo Xi's title given to her.

Ruo Xi frowned at Sakura slightly, not knowing why the girl standing in front of her wasn't replying. She decided to try again. "Do you speak English? Do you want to come in?" she pushed the door open with the hand which had a pair of yellow jeans.

Sakura's hold on the bags and the suitcase tightened. "Where's Syaoran?" She would have managed a small smile, but she couldn't. She wanted to demand for an answer as to why Ruo Xi was in her boyfriend's home, but she couldn't. Instead, she walked into Syaoran's usually cleanly-kept home to find a bunch of clothing and other necessities scattered on the floor and the gray sofas, while her large blue suitcase laid emptily open on the glass coffee table.

It was hard for Sakura to take in. The girl, who Syaoran had pronounced to be a stranger and a person he didn't want to associate himself with, was using his home like it was hers. Worse yet, Syaoran had told her about their contract, a contradiction to the rule that he had put into place almost two months ago. How long had she been here for? Why didn't Syaoran tell her? Tears were on the verge of escaping her eyes, but she forced them back with all her might.

"He went back on-set. Sorry about this mess. I was trying to find something in my suitcase," Ruo Xi apologized while she quickly grabbed a few pieces of clothing and dumped them into her suitcase.

"Went back?" Sakura asked. Syaoran never left work during filming unless he had something urgent.

"Yeah, he left almost two hours ago after he brought me here from the airport," Ruo Xi replied casually, still jumping around to clean the living room.

"Airport?" Even the simplest word didn't make sense to Sakura at that moment.

"I'm guessing Xiao Lang didn't tell you?" She stopped gathering the items and looked at Sakura in surprise. "I was kind of shocked too that the jerk actually came to pick me up."

Sakura looked at her confusedly. Somehow, anger did not rise in her and did not make her lose her self-control. She actually wanted to listen to her explanations because there was something about Li Ruo Xi that told her that she was a good person and was very much unlike the Rena type. Maybe, it was because she had "saved" her from Touya before.

"So, here's what happened," Ruo Xi began explaining, after taking a seat on the sofa and propping her legs up. "Neither of us want to get married, but neither of us have the power to change our parents' mind, so I told him if he were to help me escape from my bodyguards when I come to Japan, I would ask my Father to post-pone the engagement. When I told him, he just sneered and walked away, but I still left him a message yesterday before I came. And today he showed up at the last minute and helped me escape…"

_As he turned his head around, Li Ruo Xi, ran up to him and kicked him hard in the shin. "You bastard! I told you to take me with you yesterday!"_

_Eriol's jaw dropped as he watched his friend being attacked by a small girl. The two bodyguards swiftly grabbed Ruo Xi's arms and pulled her away from Syaoran before she launched another attack. _

_Seconds after the kick, Syaoran moaned in pain. Who would have thought a girl had so much power? "Are you mentally ill?" Syaoran exclaimed, glaring up at Ruo Xi when he was able to bite back the pain. His look was dangerous and was hinting at retaliation. _

"_That's what you get for not taking me with you!" Ruo Xi yelled back in equal madness. "I didn't want to be there just as much as you did!" _

"_Are you fucking crazy, Ape? I don't even know you!" Syaoran yelled, body moving forward as he did. Fortunately, Eriol kept him back. The name calling flew out of Syaoran's mouth, without much thought. _

_Syaoran was agitated. It was rare for him to lose his calm, especially to a woman, but this woman's actions were beyond barbarism. _

_As if seeing Syaoran's agitated state fulfilled her temporary satisfaction, she pulled up a wicked smile. "Lin, Ying, leave for a minute. I want to talk to him in private," she ordered her guards, who reluctantly retreated upon her command. _

"_Who said I want to talk to you?" Syaoran countered, shooting a look at the guards. Eriol, too, stepped away from Syaoran and began walking down the hall. "Listen to what she has to say," he whispered before leaving. _

_Syaoran could not believe his ears. Eriol just told him to listen to what this crazy Ape had to say? Before he lost any more control, he turned the other way, following Eriol's path and completely ignoring Ruo Xi's existence. _

"_I don't want to marry you, and I know that you don't want to marry me either. But, we can't do anything about it because our parents have made this decision. The only thing I can do is to ask my parents to post-pone the engagement. If you help me escape from my guards when I go to Japan next week, I will ask them to post-pone it," Ruo Xi called out to Syaoran's retreating back. _

_She watched Syaoran's back for an answer, but all she got was a loud sneer. _

"You know, Sakura, I still can't believe he came… Ah! I can taste the freedom!" Ruo Xi stretched across the sofa with a sigh and leaned her head back in joy.

Ironically, after hearing Ruo Xi's story, Sakura didn't feel animosity towards her. She felt compassionate, and at the same time wanted to get to know this girl more. Somewhere deep down, she also hoped that Ruo Xi would be a good wife for Syaoran.

Then, Ruo Xi's head jerked up and stared at Sakura with widened eyes. "Are you the girl at the party, Sakura?"

Ruo Xi was unlike any other person Sakura knew. She had the quickest reflexes, a trait that Syaoran had realized as well when they had that conversation. Sakura wondered how old Ruo Xi was. Unexpectedly, she was 24, two years older than Sakura.

"That's right. I have to thank you for that," Sakura replied with a small smile, thinking back to that night's event. "But, he was actually a friend of mine. We had not seen each other for a long time, that's why he was acting like that."

Ruo Xi's mouth shaped into an "o" at the misunderstanding. "Oops. Tell him I'm sorry, then. But seriously, he didn't look very friendly."

Sakura nodded in agreement. She watched Ruo Xi as she made her way towards Sakura. Her hands grabbed onto one of Sakura's and gazed into her eyes with adoration. "Sakura, I think we were meant to become friends. Don't you think? We met at the party and now we meet in Japan. Let's be best friends!"

Even Sakura's suspecting nature was pushed aside at seeing Ruo Xi's cheesy grin. She could sort of guess from Ruo Xi's sudden change of attitude, which did not fit into her tomboyish personality, that Ruo Xi was the typical "girl from a wealthy family." She was not destined to befriend freedom since the day of her birth and was heavily protected from the outside world, which resulted in her strange ways of interaction with others around her, especially with friends, if she had any real ones that is. Although Sakura was not born into a rich family at birth, because Kinomoto Corp. was created only around 10 years ago, she had experienced similar treatment, but to a lesser extent, as well.

* * *

Tomoyo came to Eriol's office today to show him the final version of Syaoran and Sakura's photo shoot collection before she sent it to the Advertising department for publishing. As Eriol scanned through the photos, Tomoyo seated quietly across from him, not being her usual bubbly self whenever she was with her boyfriend.

"What's wrong?" Eriol said to Tomoyo, sliding his glasses up his nose bridge.

Tomoyo was biting the inside of her cheeks contemplatively, not knowing if she should tell him what she'd heard outside of Sakura's room two nights ago.

"Tomoyo?" he asked again with a bit of concern this time. He reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Touya threatened Sakura to leave Japan before September," she said finally. Once the words were out, she anxiously waited for her boyfriend's reply. It wasn't because she was scared that Eriol might tell Syaoran since he had already proven his trustworthiness to her from all those times when they discussed about Syaoran and Sakura's relationship. She was anxious because Eriol might give one of his wise and truthful suggestions, which Tomoyo knew were right but hoped weren't.

"It's related to that proposal between Li Corp. and Kinomoto Corp.?" Eriol asked.

Tomoyo nodded slowly. "Knowing her, she would sacrifice herself. I don't want her to be unhappy and regretful, especially now that they've realized their feelings for each other."

From the very beginning, Tomoyo had always known that Sakura and Syaoran got together due to a contract. Before Sakura got into the car crash, Tomoyo was the same close friend to Sakura, who, unlike now, told her everything that went on in her life in New York. Sakura's crush on Syaoran was no exception. When Tomoyo opened her own fashion company, she decided to try her luck to get Sakura and Syaoran together by getting Syaoran to endorse for Daidouji Inc., even though Sakura didn't have any of her old memories. After the dinner meeting turned out to be a failure, Tomoyo couldn't believe that Sakura and Syaoran began dating just a few days after their messy encounter. She had gone to Eriol's office, being unreasonable, and demanded for an answer for the sudden change of attitudes towards each other. In the end, it was Eriol who had told her about their contract and told her to pretend like she didn't know.

"Remember the time when you asked me if you should tell Sakura about their past?" Eriol questioned Tomoyo, bringing her back to the present. "I told you not to intervene, and look how well it has played out. You should stop worrying and wait for nature to take its course. If they really love each other, they will find a way."

As much as she hated Eriol's stay-on-the-sideline suggestion, she knew he was right once again. Eriol gave Tomoyo one of the smiles that she adored, and successfully distracted her from her concerns.

With a defeated sigh, she nodded.

Little did they know, their decision not to intervene this time was going to change everything…

* * *

"哎哟，我要疯了！把那音乐关掉！" Ruo Xi cried from the back seat. Her body was stretched across the entire seat, head leaning against the car window and hands covering over her ears. (I'm going crazy! Can you turn off the damned music?)

Ever since Sakura, Syaoran, and Ruo Xi began their 2-hour ride to Yokohama, different types of classical music was played in the background non-stop. To Syaoran and Sakura, the music relaxed them. To Ruo Xi, the music killed her.

Ruo Xi received no answer from the front. No answer from Sakura because she was sleeping in the passenger seat and even if she were awake, she wouldn't have understood. And no answer from Syaoran, the driver, for the simplest reason: he didn't want to talk to her.

"喂！混蛋！关那音乐起来！" Ruo Xi repeated again in a louder voice (Hey, Asshole! Turn off the music!).

＂安静点母猴子。小樱在睡觉．＂Syaoran said to Ruo Xi (Be quiet, Ape. Sakura's sleeping.). He continued to drive the rented 5-seat Honda Civic, ignoring the tagalong at the back. Originally, he had thought that she had plans of her own in Japan once she escaped from her entourage, but she announced last night that she had nowhere to go. In the end, Sakura turned out to be the one asking Syaoran to take Ruo Xi with them to Yokohama.

As if on cue, Sakura woke up beside him, turning her head to see what was wrong with Ruo Xi.

"You don't like the music?" she asked. Ruo Xi nodded.

Sakura reached for the volume knob and turned the entire thing off.

"Sakura, just ignore her," Syaoran spoke to Sakura in Japanese and shot a look through the rear view mirror at Ruo Xi, who had her tongue stuck out at him.

"Be nice to her. Or else she'll find out," Sakura said.

It was Syaoran who had told Ruo Xi that Sakura was his "fake girlfriend," for he did not trust Ruo Xi. He had told Ruo Xi what he and Eriol told his Mother about fake-dating to promote his image, in case she was secretly on his Mother's side. In order to keep up with the lie, Syaoran and Sakura had to stay away from each other in her presence. They had to be friends, not lovers.

So far, it had been an easy task for the two of them.

"Sakura, I feel bad for you. Why do you have to pretend to be THIS asshole's girlfriend?"

Sakura shrugged with a hidden smile. She found it quite funny that Ruo Xi was just as un-star stuck as her. She replied, "I don't know either, Ruo Xi."

Beside her, Syaoran gave her a sideway glance, daring her to continue.

* * *

The filming took place in a forest located near a traditional Japanese shrine. It began as soon as the entire film crew arrived in the morning and continued into the evening. To kill some time, Ruo Xi and Sakura wandered around the shrine and its shops, and walked out to the main street where Japanese delicacy huts aligned on the sides. The time they spent in the huts was made longer by the fans that had gathered to see Syaoran film.

Meanwhile, in the forest filming, Syaoran received quite a few compliments on his improved acting from the director and the colleagues. After the director said "cut" to the scene, in which the main character, Yamashita Horu, played by Syaoran, attempted to commit suicide after his beloved disappeared from rolling off of a dangerous steep "mountain," the atmosphere on-set was completely affected by Syaoran's lines.

Many people approached him afterwards, giving him a pat on the shoulder and saying how well he had acted.

"I was amazed, Syaoran. You have no idea," was what his director said to him when they were in private.

In return, Syaoran could only thank her and be a little more modest than he would have liked. He couldn't tell how much he had improved, but one thing he knew for sure was he felt more connected to the character this time than any other confessional scenes from previous movies.

It was Hikari who later told him that Sakura was the reason that changed him, and because of this change in him, she took back her earlier words about Sakura's involvement in his life being a not-so -great idea.

Syaoran couldn't have agreed with her more. He was thankful that Sakura was in his life.

* * *

Misaki and Yamamoto prepared a wonderful meal for the three of them once they arrived at their house. They didn't have a good impression on this new friend of Sakura's when the three of them first arrived because of their stereotypical assumption that people who had dyed hair were usually bad. By the end of the meal, Misaki's dislike no longer existed. It was evident in the way she looked at Ruo Xi. However, she couldn't get to know Ruo Xi because of their language barrier.

It never occurred to Sakura and Syaoran that Ruo Xi had such a huge appetite for a comparatively small body. She ate everything in her given portion, despite the fact that she and Sakura already had a tremendous amount of food from the shrine.

That night, Misaki prepared two bedrooms for them. Sakura and Ruo Xi shared Sakura's room, and Syaoran slept in the room across from theirs.

Ruo Xi kept Sakura up for 2 hours, talking to her about herself and wanting to get to know Sakura. Childhood friends, places they visited, hobbies, family members…Most of these topics Sakura could only listen instead of contributing because of her lack of memory.

As they neared the end of their talk, Ruo Xi brought up Syaoran for the first time.

"Sakura, I think I'm interested in him…" With that, she dozed off to sleep, leaving a heart aching Sakura to suffer the lonely silent darkness by herself.

She tossed and turned, not knowing how to take this new piece of confession. Should she be happy that the girl Syaoran was going to marry liked him and that the marriage wouldn't be another one of those business matchmakings? Should she be sad about losing Syaoran to Ruo Xi, eventually? Should she feel guilty about lying to Ruo Xi and gaining her trust…?

Before exhaustion completely took over, she decided it was all three.

* * *

"Sakura! Sakura!"

Ruo Xi shook Sakura's body vigorously as she watched her friend suffered from a nightmare. Sakura's frightened face was dripped with sweat, while her hands clutched the blanket tightly.

Her eyes opened at the calling, feeling relieved that she had escaped the dream of the accident.

"I'll go get you some water," she said, climbing out of the bed and rushed out the door.

Ruo Xi reached the kitchen to find Syaoran seated in a dining chair with a cell phone in hand, as if he were waiting for a call or had just finished calling someone.

"干嘛？慌慌张张的。" Syaoran asked her (What happened? Why do you look like that?).

"我来倒杯水给小婴。刚才她做恶梦了," Ruo Xi replied, busy filling up an empty glass with tap water (I came to get Sakura some water. She had a nightmare.).

"恶梦？" (A nightmare?) Syaoran immediately stood up from his chair, walking over to Ruo Xi.

"把水给我吧。今晚你睡我的房间。" Syaoran took the glass of water from Ruo Xi and started walking towards Sakura's room without waiting for a reply. (Give me the water. Sleep in my room tonight.)

Ruo Xi could only stare at Syaoran's back as the truth finally dawned on her.

"Syaoran?"

Sakura didn't expect to see her boyfriend walking into her room with water in hand.

"I heard you had a nightmare. Do you want to go out for a walk and get some fresh air?" he asked, handing the water to her and noticing how wet her lashes were from the tears.

"But she's going to know," Sakura said. She watched as Syaoran bent down on his knees, offering his back for her to climb on.

"Nah, who cares," he said nonchalantly. "We can think of an excuse, later."

Sakura guiltily worried, but she still made her way up his back, arms wrapping around his neck. When they passed the kitchen they didn't find Ruo Xi, meaning she was already back in her new bedroom.

"So tell me about your dream," Syaoran questioned curiously once they were out of the house. The small road was illuminated by street lamps and it was very empty, with a car or two parked here and there in front of the houses. It was a dark and quiet night, so quiet to the point that it was possible for the sleeping residents inside the houses to overhear Syaoran and Sakura's conversation if their volumes weren't controlled carefully.

"It's about the car crash. I'm in the back seat while my mom's in the front driving. All of a sudden, everything turns black and the next thing I know, my mom is dripping with blood in her seat, dead," Sakura recalled, shuddering at the thought of a possible repeat.

"Do you get these dreams often?"

"I had it once or twice back in New York, but ever since I came back, I've been getting it quite often. And recently it comes even more frequently."

Syaoran's hands reached into the pocket of his hoodie and took out a thin silver bracelet with a single pendant of a heart-shaped lock daggling. "I bought this a few days ago, but I never had the chance to give it to you," he told her, waving the delicate, yet expensive, bracelet in the air.

"Hold on tight." His hands released her legs and quickly fastened it onto her left wrist.

"Originally, this was used to lock your heart with me, but now it serves a double purpose. Now I'm going to lock your heart and your dreams forever. Hopefully, you won't have to have those bad dreams anymore," he told her, as he planted a quick kiss on her new bracelet. Sakura could tell there was a huge smile forming on Syaoran's face, without looking at him.

The way he treated her was breaking her heart. She didn't want to breathe, feeling afraid that if she did, she would not be able to control her emotions. "You're being too good to me, Syaoran. I don't deserve this," she choked out all she could manage. How could she accept all of his love when she had been planning on an escape all along? How could he be so serious towards her while she contrarily wanted anything but to fall deeply in love with him? She was scared. She was scared that if this relationship continued, she wouldn't be able to leave him when September came.

"It's for me to decide whether you deserve this or not," Syaoran countered with arrogance. He turned his head slightly to the left and waited for something, something that Sakura knew.

"Thank you," she said as she slowly leaned down on him and sealed his lips with hers.

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **There you go! A little cute ending between our SxS couple. I hope you count that as a "Fluff," as what HappyHam had kindly explained to me (Thank You!). I had such an enjoyable time reading your comments about Li Ruo Xi. Some of you emphasized your hatred for her while others said that she was not evil. In this chapter, Ruo Xi tells Sakura that she's starting to have interest in Syaoran. What do you think she'll do now that she knows about the truth?

Thank you for following this story up until now (The 20th chapter! Can you believe that?). I cannot tell you how happy and thankful I am to have so many of you supporting this story. In the next chapter, Sakura will HAVE HER MEMORY BACK, but that's not all. Something drastic is going to happen, and if you miss it, you will really miss out on the best part of this story ;p

For now, why don't you click the button below and leave a review (What do you think will happen, etc.)? Sounds like a good idea, huh? ^.^


	21. Chapter 21

**Valkyrie85:** School work has been killing me recently, but I still managed to finish this really important chapter. YAE! You will either love or hate this chapter after you finish, I guarantee you. Enjoy!

**Chapter 21**

* * *

Early morning, Ruo Xi's personal guards, who had accompanied and lost her when they came to Japan, arrived at Misaki's house in a black SUV. They barged into the house and demanded Ruo Xi to return to Hong Kong immediately because her parents were very angered by her disappearance. Not wanting to bring trouble to Sakura and her family, Ruo Xi unwillingly agreed to leave with the guards.

One of the guards went to her room to retrieve her belongings while the other three accompanied Ruo Xi out to the car. Ruo Xi gave Misaki and Yamamoto each a hug, saying many "Thank you" in the best Japanese accident she could manage.

She embraced Sakura last and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Xiao Ying," she called Sakura in her Chinese name, "I'm so happy to have become friends with you! Thank you for making the only freedom I had so much fun! Come visit me in Hong Kong, okay?"

"I will, Ruo Xi. Definitely," Sakura said to Ruo Xi with a smile. She knew she was going to miss her greatly, which was strange, considering that they had only spent less than 2 days together.

"Say bye to the asshole for me," she added, before hugging Sakura again."Forget about what I said last night. It's just mere interest, and nothing more. I want you two to be happy," she added in a whisper upon releasing her hold.

With that, she hopped into the car and waved vigorously as the car drove away from the house.

Her words left Sakura paralyzed with wonder. Instead of feeling happy that the one possible love rival had quit the game and wished for her happiness, she felt selfish.

Nevertheless, she told herself Ruo Xi's sincere kindness was enough because she didn't expect anything to change. She knew that no matter what happened, the engagement was destined to go on.

* * *

The week after Sakura and Syaoran returned to Tokyo, both became extremely busy, so busy to the point that they had no time to see each other whatsoever.

Syaoran's schedule was tightly packed with work because he had finished filming for his movie, "Down In Heaven". From interviews to photo shoots related to the movie, he was driven all across the city everyday. Endorsement deals were sent to his agency on an almost hourly basis, breaking his usual rate of offerings, because rumours had appeared in the media suggesting that Syaoran was going to make a quick leave from Showbiz before the end of the month. In response to the rumours, his spokesperson was ordered by the agency to make a statement, explaining he was not going to quit Showbiz until next year. However, the statement did little to help Syaoran's piling workload. The statement turned into an unintended official confirmation to the public about Syaoran's resignation, and so it brought on even more endorsement contracts and requests to attend several charitable events.

On the other hand, Sakura's training at the hospital was extended to 5 days a week instead of 3. Her new work routine not only included the old data-input and clinic check, it also included a new two-hour one-on-one session with Shin and a practice treatment for the young cancer patients in her department. Her extended workdays made it impossible for her to visit Syaoran, even if she wanted to. With their busy schedules, their second collaboration for a wedding dress photo shoot had to be postponed, as well.

The only communication they had was through the phone and the media. During daytime while both were busily working, they texted each other. For the majority of the time, however, Sakura received no reply, since Syaoran was not allowed to keep his phone by his side during recording. Oftentimes at night, Syaoran called Sakura once he was off of work, but the hour was usually so late that Sakura was already asleep by then. The other means of communication was through the media. Syaoran's active schedule in the city made him appear in headlines of newspapers and tabloid magazines every day, which helped Sakura to learn what her boyfriend was up to.

In this morning's newspaper-shoved into her hands by one of her crazy Syaoran-fan colleague the minute she arrived at the hospital- Sakura read something that was both intriguing and troubling.

The entertainment section of the newspaper had Syaoran's picture on the front page. This time, it was a photo of him printed in colour, walking down the runway at a Prada fashion show in Hong Kong last year. Beside it was a photo of the famous fashion designer for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, wearing one of his signature shades with his hair tied back into a long ponytail.

The headline was "First Asian Model to Reject Lagerfeld's offer!"

_Li Syaoran, Asia's Number 1 hottest star, gained himself a new title recently: The First Model Who Has Ever Rejected Karl Lagerfeld. The Father of Fashion, Lagerfeld, reportedly flew to Tokyo on Tuesday night and personally asked Syaoran to model for his Chanel Menswear line for September's fashion show in Milan, after accidentally stumbling across one of Syaoran's old runway footages. The two of them enjoyed a friendly meal at Ichiban Sushi, and at around 9 o'clock, Lagerfeld left the restaurant by himself, looking somewhat disappointed, as what one witness had reported. A car then arrived and drove him to the airport, where he took a flight back to his Italian Villa on his private jet. _

"I can't believe Syaoran rejected the designer!" the nurse with pink lips exclaimed from behind Sakura, giving her a startle. She wasn't the only one watching Sakura. The other three were sitting at their desks with their heads turned to Sakura's direction as well.

"Wouldn't it be nice to end his acting career with this kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience? A lot of models would die for this kind of opportunity!" the nurse continued, while the other three nodded in agreement.

"Why did he reject, Sakura?" another one asked, as if she knew Sakura had an answer. In truth, Sakura knew nothing about the dinner meeting and felt as if she were stabbed in the back with a knife because Syaoran had never told her about this important news.

"I don't know," Sakura said honestly, as she looked at the bracelet on her left wrist.

None of the nurses seemed to believe her, but before they could press on for more information, Akira, the head, strolled into the building from the front door. The nurse standing behind Sakura quickly left for her desk, while the other three immediately dropped their gazes at something on their desks.

Sakura greeted Akira with a grateful smile, and then took out her phone from her pocket to text Syaoran.

_I read the news. Why didn't you tell me about Karl Lagerfeld? : (_

Unfortunately, she didn't get a reply that morning. It was until the end of her lesson with Shin when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

_Are you free now? _She read from her screen. It wasn't an answer she had expected, but she texted back anyways.

_I just finished my lesson. It's lunch now._

The second she pressed sent, her phone began to ring. Sakura paced towards the exit of the building to pick up the phone call, not wanting to bother her colleagues.

"I'm close to the hospital today. Let's have lunch together," Syaoran said in his attractive- and with a hint of tiredness-voice, forcing Sakura's heart to beat faster than before. Finally being able to hear his voice made her realize how much she had really missed him in the past few days. Her eyes gazed at the bracelet longingly.

"I—I can't leave the hospital for lunch today. I have to stay back to type out a report," Sakura lied. She felt really bad, but at least it was for a good cause. She knew Syaoran had been very busy in the past few days and never had enough time to eat or sleep. If he had so much free time on his hands to eat lunch with her today, he should use it for some sleep, instead.

"A report? What is wrong with your mentor, always torturing you like this and keeping you from seeing your boyfriend? How about I buy the food and eat with you at your place?" he suggested hopefully.

Sakura sighed. Inside, she really wished she could see him. "You'll cause a scene if you come, and we're going to see each other soon, anyways. There's only one day left until your movie premiere."

Then she quickly suggested, "Why don't you tell Hikari to go out and buy you something, so you can rest for a bit before the afternoon shift starts?"

"Fine." She heard a pout in his voice. "I guess you don't miss me as much as I miss you." For the majority of their time together, Syaoran always took the role of the mature and caring boyfriend, but there were times when he acted like a baby; he longed for Sakura's care and affection, which she rarely showed. Due to this lack of affection, he never had a good grasp on how much she really liked him.

However, the doubt did not make him love her less; it motivated him to do the exact opposite. Whether she had liked him in high school or not, he did not need or want to remind her of her old feelings just for the purpose of deepening her current one.

"Hey, don't make me look like the bad person. Why didn't you tell me about Karl Lagerfeld?" Sakura countered.

"It's not that important," Syaoran said casually.

"It's not that important? Everyone is talking about it. They think you were on drugs that night and didn't know what you were doing."

Syaoran broke out in laughter. He had to admit, Sakura was good at exaggerating. "On drugs, I see. But why don't I regret my decision now that my head is clear?"

"Why didn't you take the offer? You missed out on a great opportunity."

With a bit of a pause, he said in all honesty. "Because I don't have much time left. I can't afford to leave the country for two weeks just for a stupid fashion show."

His words silenced Sakura. For the first time since they returned from Hong Kong, Syaoran voluntarily brought up the topic about their time-limited relationship. By "I don't have much time left," she knew he meant "We don't have much time left." However, despite his fear, he had not given up yet—unlike Sakura.

When they ended the phone call, Sakura slid her phone back into her pocket and was about to re-enter the building. That was when Michio's angel-like voice rung through her ears.

"Mommy!" He ran into Sakura's arm in joy, a huge grin plastered on his face. She noticed that one of his bottom teeth had fallen off.

Sakura's face instantly brightened up into a cheeky grin. It was a different type of reaction than the one Syaoran was able to bring out of her. "Michio, you little cutie. I haven't seen you for so long!" Sakura said, picking Michio up in her arms.

The boy's nanny, whose name Sakura could not remember, came running up the hill with Michio's backpack in hand. "Michio, don't run so fast next time. You could injure yourself." She looked at Sakura and greeted her kindly, "Hello, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura returned the greeting with an embarrassed smile and a "Hi."

"Michio's dad asked me to drop him off here so he could take him to McDonalds for lunch. Could you bring him in for me, please? I have to get somewhere in a rush right now," the nanny pleaded.

Sakura nodded, took Michio's backpack and headed inside the building. "We'll see you later then."

"Mommy, why do you have so much work all the time? Daddy says Mommy is always busy with her work that's why she doesn't have time to play with Michio," the boy asked on their way in, eyes looking into Sakura's with pure curiosity.

Sakura did not understand Michio at first, until she remembered the conversation she had had with Shin back in the ice cream parlour. He had not wanted Michio to bother Sakura, therefore, he came up with this kind of temporary excuse. Not wanting to turn Shin into a bad person in front of Michio, Sakura effortlessly replied, "Mommy's work is all finished now. Michio can come find Mommy whenever you want to." She realized that getting along with young children was second nature to her, especially with Michio.

There were many curious stares from the staff members in the hospital as Sakura entered with Michio in her arms because they had never seen Shin's son with any female other than the hired nanny. Thankfully, no one speculated the relationship between Shin and Sakura.

* * *

"I'll send a driver to pick you up on Saturday."

Syaoran hung up his phone with a sigh. His body immediately stretched across the large sofa in boredom, as he stared blankly at the white ceiling.

Now that he wasn't going to have lunch with his girlfriend, what could he do to kill the free time? If he had not gone through the Samsung TV commercial shooting as quickly, hoping to create some alone time with Sakura, he wouldn't be stuck in this room all by himself for the next two hours.

Sleep wasn't on his mind at the moment, so he decided to take Sakura's other suggestion.

"Hikari," he dialled his assistant's phone and said, "I feel like having McDonalds for lunch. Can you buy it for me, please?"

With that, he hung up the phone and laid on the sofa for his assistant's return with the fast food, which was strictly prohibited for his healthy diet.

* * *

"Down In Heaven" was a highly anticipated movie based on a best-selling novel that retold the touching story about an orphan with an unfortunate childhood, who joined a multimillion-dollar-worth gang of drug dealers in hope of pursuing a better life. With the involvement of the biggest investors in town, the production company was able to gather a team of award-winning, internationally-acclaimed staff, from directors to screenwriters to cinematographers, etc., in addition to the biggest stars in Japan, Li Syaoran and Ikaho kasashira, to take part in the movie.

With such a promising production, the movie was guaranteed to be a big hit and was going to win the Best Picture Award in the upcoming International Asian Film Festival.

On the day of Heaven's premiere for only the VVIP guests and the 32 media groups, Syaoran sent a driver to Sakura's house to pick her up in the afternoon, as promised. Once she arrived at the theatre, she was guided through the back entrance directly, in order to keep her away from having to face the press alone.

Sakura, who wore a white knee-length strapless gown from Tomoyo's newest collection, was the first one to arrive inside the theatre. A staff member led her to her assigned seat in the front row beside Syaoran's.

As more people entered, Sakura began to feel nervous when she recognized a few of the famous faces she had seen on TV back in New York. It was funny that she reacted in such a way, considering that her own boyfriend belonged to the same league as well. She managed a small but friendly smile at those who bothered to acknowledge her existence. One handsome man, in particular, with shoulder-length black hair and dressed in a stylish bright red suit left a deep impression on her due to the strong smell of cigar and alcohol that emitted from his body.

Failed to notice Sakura's irritation, the man beamed at her when he caught her looking his way. "大嫂好啊！" he exclaimed loudly, attracting the attention of those who were conversing in the rows behind theirs (Hi, sister-in-law!).

Although Sakura didn't understand his words, she could tell the sense of humour in his voice. Instantly, her defensive nature kicked in.

"Not sober already, Jin? Don't joke around with Sakura. Syaoran won't like it," a familiar voice sounded behind Sakura. It was none other than Linda Hamasaki, one of the guaranteed guests invited to the premiere because of her close relationship with Syaoran.

Tonight, she wore a silky silver v-neck dress that hugged loosely around her slender body, showing off her long legs, with her brunette hair curled and tied up into a messy bun. After their first meeting, Sakura grew a liking for Linda and regarded her as an older sister. Linda's presence made Sakura feel less awkward.

"怎么，你现在是嫉妒我叫她大嫂而不是叫你吗？" the guy, by the name of Jin, asked with a smirk (What? Are you jealous that I'm calling her sister-in-law instead of you?). Chou Jin was a Chinese actor who had met Syaoran a few years back in Hong Kong before Syaoran became a celebrity. It was with Syaoran's help and guidance that Jin was able to start his own career in Showbiz, so Syaoran was considered a mentor and a brother-like figure to Jin. Just for the premiere, Jin rescheduled all of his work and had flown to Japan for the evening.

Being an active model all across Asia, Linda could understand Chinese perfectly but was not able to speak it fluently. Therefore she replied in Japanese to Jin, sneering, as she took the seat between Sakura and Jin. "You must be so drunk everyday that you don't read the news. I am engaged." Linda emphasized the last word.

The two weren't hostile toward each other. Nevertheless, they were somewhat on that borderline, for a reason Sakura didn't know. Before Linda was able to shift her attention to Sakura, the lights in the theatre suddenly dimmed as the small stage on the bottom brightened by the overhead lights.

Hikari walked out of the backroom with a microphone in hand to introduce the cast of the movie, from the minor characters to the main ones, and finally to the director and screenwriter of the entire project. Syaoran, dressed in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans for the purpose of portraying his character in the movie, made a speech on behalf of the entire crew and thanked the reporters and guests for coming to support this movie and retold some of the experiences he gained during filming.

Once his short speech ended, the lights in the theatres turned on as cameras began flicking for pictures. After, the cast left the stage, each returning to their assigned seats, while Syaoran and his co-star remained on the stage, posing in every direction for a duo photo. As Syaoran's eyes landed on Sakura, he gave a quick wink at her.

"Thanks for coming," he said to Sakura once he returned to his seat. Oblivious to the curious eyes spying on them conspicuously, he planted a kiss on her forehead. It was something he had always wanted to do for the past week when they had been apart.

"I'm sorry that the first time we see a movie together, the situation is like this."

Sakura, shyly blushing, shook her head with a smile. "It's better like this. At least we don't have to run for our lives if we get discovered."

Two seats away, Jin whistled mischievously. "哥，现在我才知道为什么每次我来日本的时候约你出来你都爽约." (Brother, now I understand why every time I come to Japan and call you out, you never come.)

Syaoran's face spread into a large smile as he wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulder. "说真的，我到现在也觉得很吃惊。" (Honestly, I still find it very surprising.)

After the premiere, Jin pleaded to Sakura, asking her to let Syaoran have a drink with him at the bar for a guys' night out since he had not seen his brother for a very long time and needed to catch up on the events in their lives. Syaoran was reluctant to go, knowing that tonight was the only opportunity for him to spend time with Sakura. It was when Sakura promised to wait for him at his house that he agreed to go with Jin, although still a bit unwillingly.

* * *

By the time he arrived at home, it was past midnight. He had had a few drinks, but he was not the least bit drunk. However, Jin was an entirely different case. He was so wasted by the time they finished that Syaoran had to check him into a hotel for the night because his assistant had said he was in no condition to take the flight back to Hong Kong.

As he slid open the keypad to enter the passcode, his phone began to vibrate inside his pocket. "Hello?"

It was his Mother. "我要你下个星期马上回香港." (I want you to come back next week.) Just like any other time, his Mother only called for a purpose. There was no greeting, no nothing. She always went directly to her point whenever she spoke to Syaoran, as if she were speaking to one of her subordinates.

Automatically, Syaoran's back straightened and paused from entering his home. "为什么？" (Why?)

"李总说若熙要解除婚约。他们下星期会来香港。我要你回来让她改变主意。要不然我们的公将会陷入危机。" (Ruo Xi told her Father that she wants to cancel the engagement. They are coming to Hong Kong next week and I want you to change her mind. If not, our company will be in grave trouble. )

Yelan did not wait for Syaoran's reply beforeshe hung up because she was confident that he was going to follow her orders.

Syaoran's mind became thoughtful. He was suspicious of Li Ruo Xi. Although she had acted as if she hated the engagement, she might have devised the plan in order to speed up the process…

Once he entered the house, he found Sakura sleeping peacefully on the sofa with the sound of the TV playing in the background. She held a pillow tightly to her chest, preventing herself from catching a cold.

"You're back?"

Her eyes opened slightly as she felt movement in front of her. Syaoran smiled down at her lovingly, sweeping her up in his arms. "Go back to sleep. I'm going to transfer you to my bed."

Sakura nodded contentedly, wrapping her arms around his neck as they went. "You stink," she muttered in a sleepy voice, wrinkling her nose as she sniffed his shirt.

"What do I smell like?" he asked with curiosity, slipping her underneath the cover.

"You smell like Jin. How many did you drink and smoke?"

Syaoran erupted into laughter. "It is the smell of alcohol and cigar that the girls like about him."

"Well, that only applies to him," she said, frowning at the thought with her eyes closed "You should just stick to your cologne. That way, you won't die young."

Syaoran quietly observed her from the edge of the bed, fingers caressing over her face absentmindedly.

"Stop it," she whined, throwing his hand away from her and turning her body away from him. She was not a gentle sleeper when others were interrupting her sleep.

Instead of doing what she told him to do, he advanced his ministrations by rolling her to the other side of the bed and climbing into the bed to replace her old spot. He pulled her into his arms.

"Let's sleep now, okay? I'm so tired."

"Syaoran, you stink!" she exclaimed, pushing away his rigid chest to no avail. Syaoran closed his eyes, a smile played on his face, as he pulled her even tighter to his chest.

* * *

**One Week Later**

"Here are this season's most popular wedding dresses. Since the photo shoot focuses mainly on a couple's honeymoon, we only just need one for the pre-honeymoon wedding ceremony," said the co-ordinator in charge of Syaoran and Sakura's photo shoot for the upcoming issue of _Dream Magazine._ After almost a month's delay due to Syaoran's packed schedule, today was finally the day for them to pick out the wedding dress that they liked. Later in the afternoon, they were going to travel to a church in a rural area of Tokyo to have the photos taken. Even until now, the co-ordinator did not tell them where they were going for the "honeymoon" because she and the rest of the crew were ordered to give the couple a "huge surprise."

Sakura became nervous the minute she entered the wedding dress shop with Syaoran that morning. She felt nervous because it felt like she was getting married for real. On the other hand, Syaoran looked completely at least, more like he was completely enjoying the situation. After the co-ordinator left with the one reporter who had exclusive permission to follow the couple for the entire day, Syaoran began going through the first rack of white dresses. He did it in a sweep, none of the dresses catching his attention. Standing beside him, Sakura slowly looked through the choices, giving each a few seconds of attention. Other than her nervousness, she also felt quite awkward. Before, she had never imagined entering this kind of shop to purchase a dress for herself at the age of 22. She had thought that the only exception was when one of her best friends got married and needed her to be a bridesmaid. But now, she was standing in a wedding dress shop at the age of 22 and choosing a dress for herself while accompanied by her boyfriend. Even though this was all fake, she still couldn't push away the awkward feelings.

In the end, Sakura entered the change room with three dresses that Syaoran had chosen. The first one was a mini, strapless wedding dress that reached a little past mid-thigh. The top half had folded layers while the bottom contained spiralling ruffles that formed the shape of a rose. The stylist helped Sakura with the zipper once she slipped into the dress and helped her into a pair of white sandals. She looked at the mirror and was amazed to see how pretty the dress was.

"Are you done?" Syaoran asked from the outside, almost startling Sakura.

She heaved a sigh before the stylist pulled the curtains open for her. The stylist helped Sakura up on the small elevated stage designed for the audience to take a clear view at the bride's dresses.

Syaoran placed down a wedding magazine he was reading and rose from the sofa. He slowly walked towards her, eyes filled with admiration. "I like it," he said simply but sincerely. Just like what Sakura had thought about the dress, Syaoran thought that although pretty, it was too normal.

"This dress is perfect for someone who has long legs like Miss Kinomoto. This rose here also accentuates her waist and hips, giving her body sort of an hourglass shape," explained the stylist to Syaoran.

Making a swift turn, Sakura made her way down the stage. "Next one." Somewhere deep down, she felt slightly disappointed that Syaoran didn't compliment her. When had she become like this? She felt pathetic.

The second dress was floor length. The top was long sleeve embroidered with lace. Starting from the chest down, the dress was of soft, Italian silk. It had a simple and elegant touch from the front, but once the bride turned to reveal the delicately corseted embellishment, a feeling of sophistication would immediately add to their features. The stylist could not stop complimenting Sakura as she attached a long veil on the top of Sakura's head.

No longer cared about how the dresses looked, Sakura kindly said thank you, but inside, she knew that the stylist was exaggerating. Her lack of enthusiasm probably came from Syaoran's reaction to her first dress.

When the stylist opened the curtains, both she and Sakura found the waiting room empty. Syaoran's magazine was left open on the sofa, but he wasn't there reading it. Sakura walked over to the sofa to see if he had left any note, but there was nothing. "Syaoran?" she called his name.

"Sakura, can you fix—" his voice suddenly appeared from behind her after the sound of curtains being pulled open occurred.

When Sakura turned around to face him, she felt her jaw drop. She watched him stand in front of her in a black tux, looking even hotter than usual. But his expression was even more hilarious than hers. His right hand was paused over his left wrist, trying to button the buttons, as he literally stared at her with eyes stretched so wide that his eyeballs was able to fall out.

Upon seeing his face, she immediately felt her face redden. Both were lost for words. It seemed like eternity before Syaoran began moving himself closer to her. "You look beautiful, Sakura." Any other time, she would have rolled her eyes in order to ease off the cheesiness. However, today, she could not do the same as she drowned into the depth of his shining amber orbs.

Ignoring their stylists, who were standing near the change rooms watching this exclusively private moment, Syaoran went down on one knee and planted a long, loving kiss on the back of Sakura's hand. It was a kiss unlike any other he had given her. "Will you be my wife?" She couldn't tell if he was joking or saying the truth.

The moment he gazed up at her, her head began to pound in excruciating pain. Millions of images began to run through her head simultaneously, making her feel like she was going to explode. She pulled her hand away from him and pressed both hardly on her temples, trying to push back the pain with force. Her instinct told her to leave the place immediately, while her heart told her to do the opposite.

"Sakura?" she heard Syaoran's panicked voice. Her pain was so prominent that the voice appeared almost non-existent. She didn't know what was going on, but she ended up following what her instincts told her to do and ran out of the wedding shop. Tears were running down her cheeks as she sprinted down the half-crowded sidewalk. Despite the lack of control over her actions, she managed to stop on the sidewalk for merely a second before the cross light turned green.

It was exactly in that second when Syaoran caught her by the wrist, after finally catching up to her due to his shock at first that had delayed the chase. "Let go of me!" she cried, struggling to pull free from him. In the midst of her protest, she made quick eye contact and found traces of misery, pain, and worry in his eyes. His hands were too strong around her wrists.

"Sakura, let's go back now," he tried to talk to her in a soothing voice, but she did not listen.

She was like a dog out of control. She bit down on his hand, catching him off guard for a second. She took that as an opportunity to make her escape across the road.

But, at that moment a van that was speeding down the road suddenly made a quick halt, one metre away from killing Sakura.

She fell to the ground in shock and fainted.

* * *

**Flashback**

"_So, who is this friend of yours that I've never heard you talk about?" Nadeshiko Kinomoto questioned her daughter from the driver's seat. She looked at Sakura curiously through the rear-view mirror. _

_At the back, Sakura sat silently, staring out the window as if in deep thought. The sudden downpour blurred every view outside, making it impossible for her to find an excuse to be too distracted to pay attention to her mom's question. However, she was too close to her mom to fool her with this trick. Her mom was like a sister and a best friend to her who knew her more than she knew herself. _

"_I know you can hear me, Sakura. So who is it?" Nadeshiko asked, this time sounding a bit irritated. _

_Sakura sighed. She wanted to tell her mom, but she knew that if she did her mom was going to turn the car around immediately and drive away from the route to the airport. This was the last thing she wanted to happen, so she told herself that she wasn't going to reveal the person's name until they returned home. _

"_Don't tell me it's Syaoran Li?" she pressed. Sakura could hear the agitation in her voice now. _

_Busted. Sakura's eyes remained glued to the window, as she felt her mom make a quick turn of her head to look at her for confirmation. _

"_Why, Sakura? Do you like him that much? You are just a child crushing on a senior student. How dare you ask me to drive you to the airport to see him off?" Nadeshiko yelled angrily. This was exactly why Sakura didn't want to tell her mom at first. Almost 3 months ago when Nadeshiko overheard Sakura's phone conversation with Tomoyo, she had warned her not to get too close to Syaoran Li because of his family background. She had warned her not to get involved with his family, since the Kinomoto Corporation was a fast-growing company which a lot of people wanted to use as a stepping stone, especially the Li Empire that was known for its business manipulations._

"_He will pretend like he loves you, while he uses you without you knowing. Once you are no longer useful, he throws you away. Why are men like that?" Nadeshiko was furious, and the things she talked about made absolutely no sense to Sakura. _

"_What are you talking about mom?" Sakura asked confusedly. _

"_Why do they treat women like this? Don't they know that without the women, they are nothing but garbage?" Nadeshiko was becoming very emotional. She began wiping away tears with the back of her hand. _

"_Mom, why are you crying?" Sakura asked with worry because it was rare for her mom to cry. _

"_I will not allow you to go see him, Sakura. I'm going to turn back, now," she stopped crying and told her sternly. Sakura didn't know what was happening with her mom. One minute she was sad and crying, and the next she was serious and scary. _

_This time, it was Sakura's turn to react. She jumped up in defence to her disapproval. "It's not like anything will happen between us, mom! He's going back to Hong Kong today. I'm only going to watch him from afar!"_

_Nadeshiko's hold on the steering wheel tightened. She turned her whole head around and glared into her daughter's eyes, forgetting that she was driving at the moment. "I said no-"_

_Before she was able to regain her control on the wheel, it was too late. Nadeshiko's car swerved into the side lane and crashed into another car. _

_When Sakura's eyes opened, she found herself positioned upside down in the car that had flipped over during the collision. In front of her, she saw her mom's head against the steering wheel, dripping slowly with blood."M-Mom?" she whispered weakly. There was no answer. _

"_Mom?" _

_No answer. _

"_Moooommmmmmm!"_

_If she had not asked her mom to drive her to the airport that day, there would not have been an argument or a car collision. _

_It was all because of her stupid, childish game of love. _

**End of Flashback**

Sakura woke up in the empty hospital room from her traumatic past, tears rolling down her cheeks to no end. She remembered everything. "I killed my own Mother because of him. I don't deserve to live," she said to herself before her emotions flew out of control.

* * *

Ring! Ring!

Syaoran's phone didn't have to ring twice for him to pick up. Less than three hours ago, he had returned to his apartment from the hospital after he parted way with Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo? Is she awake?" he asked, all traces of exhaustion gone within seconds. Sakura was still unconscious when he left.

"S-Syaoran…the hospital just called. They said she disappeared."

***One-and-a-half year later***

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **You never saw THAT coming, did you? Now do you still wish to read about the day when Sakura regains her memories? Yes, you did not misread the ending. She remembered everything and she disappeared for one-and-a-half year. Make sure you leave a review for this chapter, or I'll be very, very disappointed : )

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Valkyrie85:** Hey everyone! It's been a long time since I last uploaded a new chapter, and I would like to apologize. The amount of school work that I've been getting has just been too much to handle, I barely get 6 hours of sleep per day : /

**Before you go on to reading chapter 22, here's a little recap for the previous chapter:**

Syaoran and Sakura returned to Tokyo, after Syaoran's filming wrapped up in Yokohama. A few weeks later, Sakura attended Syaoran's "Down In Heaven" movie premier, where she met Chou Jin, Syaoran's student/friend from Hong Kong. The two friends had a guys' night out, and upon returning to his home that evening, Syaoran received a phone call from Yelan. She told him that Ruo Xi had asked her dad to cancel the engagement and Yelan wanted her son to return to Hong Kong immediately so that he could "change her mind." About a week later, Syaoran and Sakura visited a wedding dress shop to try on their outfits for their upcoming photoshoot. As Sakura stepped out of her second dress, Syaoran was awestruck by her beauty and couldn't help but act intimate towards her. He went down on one knee and "proposed" to her, but suddenly Sakura's head began to hurt, unlike anything she had felt before. Images quickly transitioned one after another in her head and she rushed out the door, hoping to escape from Syaoran. She almost got hit by a car while running across the street and due to shock, she fainted. In the hospital Sakura regained her memories. A few hours later at Syaoran's house, he received a phone call from Tomoyo and was told that Sakura had disappeared. The time moves forward to a year and a half later.

**To clear up some confusion/Analysis:**

The reason why Sakura reacted the way she did at the wedding shop was because of the psychological barrier in her which acted as a reminder to keep herself away from Syaoran. It is one of those natural phenomena that occurs when a person's brain subconsciously sends out warning alerts while that person is doing something that the person subconsciously doesn't want to do. This could be related back to the conversation that Syaoran had with Doctor Fukomoto in Chapter 14 when Syaoran visited the doctor to hear his opinion on Sakura's loss of memories. "I believe that something prominent had happened up until the car crash that was related to you. You are the trigger point to parts of her memory…" This was a warning sign the doctor had dropped, which I know that many of you looked past when you read this chapter. As you learned from the previous chapter, Sakura believed that the car crash took place because of her mentioning of Syaoran's name in front of her mom, which somehow angered her quite a bit and caused her to lose control on the wheel. After the crash, she suppressed her memories because the trauma and guilt was too much for her to handle.

As a result when Syaoran got down on his knees to "propose," which we don't know whether he was joking around or actually meant it, at the moment, her body sent out a signal and told her she was going too far with the person who had been the "weapon" of her mom's death. When she retrieved her memories, she felt so guilty about falling in love with Syaoran that she had to get away from him. Take note that the reason why she disappeared was not because she hated Syaoran for causing her mom's death. She was actually feeling too guilty for ever liking him. She thought that without him, the car crash wouldn't have happened. Therefore, she disappeared because she thought she deserved punishment and should listen to her mom's last wish, which was "stay away from Li Syaoran."

**FAQs**

**1. I saw chapter 22 in my email as well as chapter 21…**

Because there were confusions about the One-Year-And-A-Half part at the end of chapter 21, I had to make a quick author's note to clarify what it was. I went back to edit chapter 21 afterwards, so I ended up deleting the author's note.

**2. Why did you rush through the last part of the chapter?**

My story was running behind the planned schedule. The wedding shop scene was supposed to happen a long time ago, so I had to rush through the scene. I'm sorry about that.

**3. Where did Sakura go?**

Well…you'll just have to read this chapter. Xp

**Chapter 22**

* * *

**A Year and a Half Later**

Eriol, who was never really the romantic type of guy, was quite impressed with what he had done for tonight, for the love of his life. In a small intimate café located away from the bustling core of the city of Tokyo, he had spent hours alone trying to "renovate" the café with fields of red roses and small lit candles.

He knew that this was going to be marked as the beginning of all the great memories that he was ready to create with that woman. He was excited, but at the same time, nervous as well. What if she rejected him…? He quickly dismissed that thought and cleared his mind by shaking his head lightly. He told himself that he shouldn't be so pessimistic. After all, they had been together for almost two years now and their love was growing stronger than ever.

A few minutes later, he heard the bell at the front door rang a few times before the waiter greeted the person entering in a polite manner. Eriol stood up straight, fixed his suit, and exhaled deeply. As he waited for the click of the heels to get closer, he could feel the box in his pants pocket weighing him down.

This is it, Eriol. You are going to propose to Tomoyo and start that life that you had always dreamed of, he told himself.

* * *

**Hong Kong**

"And to conclude our annual summative report, I would like to proudly announce that the sales revenue in all of the sectors this year have increased by 10% as of last week," the Head of the Finance Department of Li Corp. announced to her colleagues, in mandarin, with smug, concluding their 3-hour meeting of the day.

All of the other Heads, the board of directors, and the major shareholders rose from their seats and clapped contentedly. Their hard work in the past year had created astounding results, as heard from the other parts of the meeting. But it was really the last digit that had hit home because it had been a long time since they had reached this level. They patted each other's back and some went as far as to hugging the people standing close to them.

They saved the best for last. All of them turned their gazes to their young, celebrity-turned CEO and gave him the standing ovation that he deserved. Xiao Lang, who was still seated, rose from his seat at the end of the table and gave a few nods of acknowledgement in return. The corners of his lips pulled up into a small smile.

"Xiao Lang, you have done well. Your Father would be very proud," the Chair of the Hotel and Lodgement Sector, also one of Syaoran's Father's best friends, rested his hand on Syaoran's shoulder and looked at him proudly. "Now it's time for you to take a break from work and go on a well-deserved vacation."

Others nodded in agreement. They felt that out of everyone else, it should have been Syaoran who had the right to claim most of the credits for the company's success.

When he "retired" from the entertainment industry a year and a half ago and came to the company as a CEO-trainee in his Father's office, close to everyone in the corporation had doubts about his capabilities. After all, he had previously been a celebrity, who usually always suffered from negative judgements and stereotypical prejudice, and was known as a "playboy." No one believed he was serious enough to lead a corporation, that was ranked as one of the world's top 10. But his performance took everyone by surprise. When his Father suddenly passed away after a heart failure, he was immediately assigned the title as the corporation's Chief Executive Officer and under his Mother's leadership, who took on the position as the President, helped Li Corp. out of a serious financial crisis. The road was long and bumpy, but after spending hours and hours in his office working, and staying overnight as well, he finally managed to find multiple solutions.

Everyone in the conference room knew of Syaoran's hard work, and from the bottom of their hearts, they wanted to see him rest for even just a day. But, Syaoran's reply forced them to dismiss their thought. "10% increase means we're on the right track," he announced as the room became silent, "35% annually is what we are trying to achieve. My Father and the generations before me have done it before, so we should be able to achieve that goal as well. Thank you everyone for your hard work. The dinner tonight is on me. The meeting is dismissed."

The employees looked at each other as Syaoran left the room. Some of the senior shareholders, who had known Syaoran since he was a baby, shook their heads in slight disapproval. "He has turned into another Shen.'

* * *

Things have changed in the past year and a half. Syaoran was no longer the old Syaoran like when he was still a movie star. He buried himself in work all day and hardly socialized with "friends," if he had any. He focused all of his attention on work. Even if he had a day off, he would book it with one of his investors for golf, in order to create more opportunities for his company. He was still very friendly and nice to his colleagues, but he was no longer as open as before. He shut himself out from the world outside because to him now, every minute wasted was equivalent to $200 million wasted.

Now he finally realized why his parents always acted the way they did because they were constantly under so much pressure to provide the workers, close to 750 000 people, at the company in all sectors, with an income to feed their families.

He entered his office to find his administrative secretary or former assistant manager, Hikari, already waiting in front of his desk with her schedule book in hand to report him his afternoon appointments.

"Xiao Lang, this afternoon Ruo Xi's plane arrives from England at 3:30. She specifically called before she departed that she wanted you to go pick her up," she said in Japanese. It was according to Syaoran's permission that she could speak to him in this language.

Syaoran rolled his eyes before he sat down in his chair. Only Ruo Xi was able to bring out familiar expressions out of him. The two of them were much closer than before, but it seemed that it was in both of their natures to be annoyed by each other.

"She can come back herself. What is the rest of the schedule?" he replied, turning on his computer to check his emails. While waiting, he grabbed the stack of files on his desk and began to scan through them.

Hikari flipped through the notebook and read aloud, "The Human Resources Department recently interviewed 50 job applicants. They want you to view the tapings of the interview so you can personally choose the new employees yourself, as you had requested. The files are in your inbox."

Syaoran nodded when he saw the folder in his email.

"Tonight at seven, you have a dinner meeting with the director of HBC to discuss their new proposal to expand productions overseas."

"And…?" Syaoran asked, asking without paying attention because of something he was reading on the computer.

"And, Eriol called while you were in the meeting," Hikari paused, taking a deep breath before she continued with the news. "HE AND TOMOYO GOT ENGAGED LAST NIGHT! He said that since Tomoyo will be preparing for her summer collection next month, they want to hold the wedding ceremony two weeks from now!" Hikari, who had not shown this much excitement when talking to Syaoran, since she started working for him in Hong Kong, said.

Syaoran stared up coldly and asked, "So?" Reminding him about Eriol and Tomoyo made him automatically think about "her."

"They're your friends, Syaoran. What do you mean 'so'?" Hikari asked, her hot temper rising slightly. She stared into Syaoran's bottomless amber eyes with a frown. Then, quickly remembering her position, she straightened up and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Thank you, Miss Hikari, for realizing your mistakes. There is no friendship between me and Daidouji Tomoyo. What is it that Eriol wants?"

Hikari slowly said, "He asked if you could attend their wedding as his Best Man."

"Confirm with him the exact date of the wedding. If there is nothing else scheduled on that day, book a roundtrip ticket for the same day."

Hikari nodded, while writing the directions he just gave in her notebook. When she reached the door, her hand hesitated on the doorknob.

"Anything else to add?" Syaoran asked, noticing that she had not left.

Hikari's mouth opened, wanting to say something, but she decided it would be best if she kept it to herself. "No."

As the door to his office shut close, Syaoran leaned back against his chair and stared up at the ceiling, mind wondering off to the information he had just heard. He didn't know how he felt about it, but he told himself that he must force himself back to work before he wasted any more time.

His cell phone began to vibrate on the desk and it broke him out of his trance. "S-Syaoran…" whispered a frightened voice when he picked up. It worried him because Ruo Xi rarely showed her fear.

"Ruo Xi?" Syaoran asked, sounding alert, and immediately sitting up from his chair. "What's wrong?"

"C-Come save me. My dad is going to lock me up in the—"and she was cut off by a sudden beep.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed his phone and jacket and rushed out the door of his office. The three secretaries and Hikari stood up from their chairs to ask what was going on, but all he said in return was, "I'm stepping out for a few hours. If I don't make it back by six, Hikari, call HBC to cancel the dinner meeting. We'll schedule for tomorrow if necessary."

He pressed the down button for the elevator repetitively until the elevator finally arrived. On the way down the building from the top floor to the basement, fortunately there were only two stops in between. Two women in their mid twenties got on the elevator and when they saw the CEO, they immediately bowed and blushed at the same time. Syaoran gave a small smile and watched anxiously as the light descended down the scale of numbers until it reached ground floor, where the women got off. When it reached basement, he immediately exited the elevator, almost knocking over a cleaning lady on the way. He got into his black Porsche and sped towards Ruo Xi's house.

* * *

Half a year ago, Ruo Xi's dad found out about Ruo Xi's mom cheating on him with another business tycoon. After that, the couple divorced, the mother abandoned Ruo Xi for the man, and her father began to drink often, usually till the point he was completely drunk. No one knew about how serious his drinking problem was until now, when he decided to take his anger out on Ruo Xi by locking her up in her room.

"You have once again disappointed me, my child," he said to Ruo Xi as the two of them and Syaoran sat in the big living room of Ruo Xi's mansion, his reddened face held in his palms shamefully and disappointedly. Syaoran and Ruo Xi sat on a sofa far away from her father's in order to keep a safe distance, even though her father was slowly recovering from his drunkenness by drinking tea. Syaoran had his arm around her shoulders protectively, while both of her arms were wrapped around his waist. Her body was still shaking from what had just happened. She was surprised that the old mellow dad she had known before she left for England had turned into a monster.

"When you said you wanted to do Art, I sent you to Vienna School of Arts. Then half a year ago you said the subject wasn't suitable for you so you wanted to go to England to study Pottery, I sent you there. Now you come back without completing the courses and you tell me that you don't have interest in it anymore? I shouldn't have listened to that woman you called mother. I should have just sent you to the States and hire guards to watch over you until you get a degree in _something_."

"But—" Ruo Xi interrupted.

"You had promised that in exchange for a post-pone in your wedding, you would complete a program abroad. Now that you have broken the promise, I don't have to keep mine either. It doesn't even matter if he doesn't like you," Ruo Xi's father pointed at Syaoran. "It doesn't even matter if you want to give him time to truly love you back before the two of you get married. Your mother and I spent lots of time 'developing' our love before we got married, and look what has happened to us?"

As Ruo Xi's father blabbed on, Ruo Xi's face began to redden like a tomato. Even Syaoran was able to feel a slight rise in her body temperature because he had gazed down to check on her.

Ruo Xi had made a deal with her father a year and a half ago for her engagement. When Syaoran retired from his movie world and returned to Hong Kong and telling his parents that he wanted the engagement to go on, Ruo Xi was very happy. However, she later found out about what had happened between Syaoran and Sakura, and she knew that Syaoran was only agreeing to the engagement because of his parents. At that time, Syaoran was going through a lot of problems, like financial crisis of Li Corp., his father's death, his adjustment to the CEO position, his feelings for Sakura etc, but her father wanted them to get married as soon as possible. The only way she could do to make everything less overwhelming for Syaoran was by asking her father to post-pone the wedding, but also providing his investment to Li Corp. immediately. Her reasoning was because she didn't want to marry a man she loved, but who didn't love her back. Therefore, she wanted to post-pone it for two years and during that time, she was going to try hard to make him love her back. In return for a post-pone, Ruo Xi's dad sent her abroad to study.

Of course, all of this was between her parents and her. Syaoran knew nothing about it and he never once questioned why the wedding was post-poned. For all he cared, he was just happy that he didn't have to deal with a wedding. On the other hand, Ruo Xi didn't want him to know because she feared that he might feel embarrassed that she had helped him and he might treat her differently because he knew that he owed her for this favour.

"Is this all your doing, Li Ruo Xi?" Syaoran asked, looking down at her with solemnity. She could feel the stiffness that was slowly surfacing.

Ruo Xi nodded and said nothing.

Syaoran coughed, and looked at his future father-in-law.

"Don't worry, Chairman Li. I won't let your daughter wait long. In two weeks, I will be going to Tokyo to attend a friend's wedding. I'll hold a proper engagement party there for Ruo Xi. We can also learn some things from their wedding ceremony and incorporate them into our wedding. When I come back from New York next month for a business trip, we will have a real wedding ceremony."

* * *

Ruo Xi told her father that she wanted some alone time with Syaoran so she was going to stay over at his apartment for the night. On the ride there, Syaoran was extremely quiet. Ruo Xi tried to break the silence, once, by turning on the radio, but he turned it off just as quickly.

"Who's getting married?" she asked in mandarin, out of curiosity. The shoulder-length hair she had managed to grow out in the past year and a half flowed backwards along with the direction of the wind outside the window.

No answer.

"Hey, asshole. Who's getting married?" she asked again, this time in Japanese.

Syaoran gave a sideway glance with raised eyebrow. Her Japanese had improved quite a lot.

"Eriol and Tomoyo," he replied.

Ruo Xi's face broke out into a large smile. "They're FINALLY getting married! What should we buy them as the gift?"

Syaoran shrugged.

"Maybe we should get them custom-made small statues of cupids made out of pure gold…or maybe buy them…"

As Ruo Xi pondered aloud, Syaoran assured in a low voice. "I will give you the best wedding that no woman in this world will ever have."

Ruo Xi stopped and turned her head to him. "I can't believe this day has arrived. I can't believe you're the one who brought up the wedding. Seems like you have finally noticed my charms and find me irresistible!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes but didn't say anything more. Inside he had always sort of known about all the things Ruo Xi had done for him, but he just didn't want to face them. Now that the subject was raised by his father, perhaps, he thought, it was time for him to give back to her.

Ruo Xi, on the other hand, also knew that Syaoran was marrying her because he felt like he owed her a wedding. The reality hurt her a little, but she wasn't about to throw away the chance to marry him. So, she was going to pretend like she didn't know what was going on.

"I'm sleeping in your bedroom tonight," she called out with her arm raised in the air, as if she were in a classroom and were volunteering for a first come first serve situation. This was her method of breaking the silence.

"Why won't you sleep in your normal room? They're the same thing," Syaoran asked.

She grinned. "Your bed is softer. So, go sleep in my room tonight."

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Right after Syaoran's meeting with the executives at Li Corp., that morning, he and Ruo Xi were driven to the airport for their 1:00pm flight to Tokyo.

When they arrived at 7:00pm, their driver escorted them to their hotel. The two of them were tired and hungry.

Syaoran looked out at the familiar streets of downtown Tokyo. Ironically, he felt more at home than when he was in Hong Kong. It had been almost a year since he had been back. The last time was when he had to look for 'her.' Thinking about her suddenly made him angry and made him feel heavy in the chest. This type of feeling hadn't occurred for quite some time, and he found it strange that right after he stepped foot on Japanese soil, these feelings resurfaced again. He didn't think he had ever 'hated' someone as much as he had hated her.

Due to rush hour, the car speed was slowed down dramatically. It was moving at about 1m per 20 minutes. Syaoran diverted his attention to the other side of the car, looking past a sleeping Ruo Xi. The first thing he saw was Thousand Island, the restaurant where it had all started. The glass of water, the dinner meeting, the…

As the car slowly started to move again, he noticed something, or more like someone. He noticed a tall, thin girl with short auburn hair standing in front of the podium where a waiter was about to direct her into the restaurant. Subconsciously, his hands wrapped into fists on his lap. It was that feeling again…a feeling he couldn't describe every time she came into the picture.

The next minute, he was out of his side of the door and making his way around to the restaurant. On top of all the honking, he heard Ruo Xi's calling. "Xiao Lang, where are you going?"

He looked at Ruo Xi and back at the auburn-haired girl still standing in front of the podium, and then back at Ruo Xi, again. "I-I have to go check something really quickly. Go to the hotel and eat without me first. I'll be there shortly."

Without waiting for her reply, he rushed into Thousand Island.

"Sir, do you have a reservation?" the waiter at the podium demanded as he stepped in front of Syaoran and blocked him with his entire body.

"I'm not going to eat here. I just need to find someone really quickly," he replied impatiently, trying to look past all the heads in front of him.

"Then, I'm sorry, sir. You can't go in if you're not eating here OR if you don't have a reservation," the man said, pushing Syaoran back with more force now.

From the inside of the restaurant came running out a bald man in a suit and another in security guard uniform. "What's going on? Why is there yelling from the outside?" asked the bald man, who was the manager of the restaurant.

"This man here wants to go inside, but he doesn't have a reservation," explained the waiter to his manager.

The manager looked from the waiter to Syaoran. At first his small eyes were sharp and piercing, but the moment he saw Syaoran's face, his eyes literally sparkled with joy. His mouth opened and made the shape of an 'o.'

"Mr. Li Syaoran!" It's so nice to see you, here. You're a busy man. How did you find the time to fly to Tokyo and come to eat at Thousand Island? I am so honoured to have you here," the man's attitude made a 180 degree turn. He was talking to Syaoran as if he were a God that he worshipped.

"We'll talk later, but right now, I have to go inside an look for someone," Syaoran said to him, not at all surprised by his change in attitude because he was so used to it already.

The man nodded his head up and down very quickly and moved out of Syaoran's way. Before Syaoran entered, he heard the manager yelling at the waiter for not recognizing who Syaoran was, and he said that if Syaoran had gotten offended by the waiter's disrespect, he was going to fire him.

As Syaoran entered the dining area of the restaurant, looking for that auburn-haired girl, he failed to notice that not one single person didn't turn their head to look at him. Some murmured, "Li Syaoran. It's Li Syaoran! The movie star! Oh My God!"

Others, "What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be in Hong Kong?"

"Should we call reporters?"

Syaoran quickly scanned through every female face in the restaurant. As he reached the end of the tables, he finally saw her. She had dropped her napkin on the floor and was bending down to pick it up, with her back facing him. His heart beat quickly. Even his hands were a bit shaky as he approached her from behind.

The time seemed to stop as he put a hand on her shoulder and waited for that familiar face to turn to look at him…

But, it wasn't her.

* * *

The buffet was closing in about 5 minutes, but Syaoran didn't come. In the big empty dining room, it was just Ruo Xi sitting by herself in a window seat.

Ruo Xi was absent-mindedly turning the wine glass slowly on the table. Her eyes were staring out at the tall buildings through the large glass windows, but she wasn't really paying attention to that either.

"Have you eaten?" came a voice right next to her.

Through the glass, Ruo Xi could see his reflection. Her hand stopped the turning of the glass, and she sat there silently.

"Ruo Xi?"

She felt his hand on her forearm and even if she wasn't looking at him, she could feel his stare. With one quick movement, she held the glass with her right hand and hit the left-over wine at him.

"So did you see her? Did the two of you reconcile?" she demanded furiously. She had caught a glimpse of the auburn hair in front of Thousand Island before Syaoran left, and she assumed that it must have been her.

The wine slowly dripped down Syaoran's hair and stained his white dress shirt. However, he didn't react like what she had expected.

He looked at her emotionlessly. "No, it wasn't her."

His honesty made her even more furious. "How can you do this to me? After all I have done for you!" She grabbed the sides of his shirt in her fists. "I have been the one who stayed by your side when you needed comfort. I gave you love and support when your dad died! Where was she? She was in fucking New York cheating on you with her mentor!"

Drops of tears began to slowly drip down her face. "You gave her all of your love, but what was she doing? She had planned on leaving you for New York with her mentor all along! I've done so much for you, but what have you done for me?" She exclaimed, pointing at her hair and her clothes. Ruo Xi had changed a lot for him. Before she used to be a tomboy who only wore jeans and tank tops and had extremely short haircuts. However now, she had grown out her hair and started wearing more feminine clothing and heels. She even forced herself to listen to classical music because she knew that Syaoran enjoyed listening to it, and she took Japanese lessons to learn the language that Syaoran called his mother-tongue rather than the supposed mandarin. He noticed the changes, but he never mentioned them in front of her.

"Why can't you love me like how you loved her…"

Her words of reality were like bells ringing to wake him up. Yes, Ruo Xi was right. That woman who had betrayed him and left with another man should not deserve his love. He knew all of that, but he just couldn't get her out of his mind.

But looking at Ruo Xi, he knew he was hurting her too much. She deserved to be happy, she deserved to be loved…

He kneeled on the floor and rested her head on his shoulder. She quickly covered her mouth in his shirt so she could muffle her sobs.

"I know, Ruo Xi. I know," he said soothingly, as his fingers laced through her hair. "But I just want to confirm it myself."

She continued to sob, and spoke in broken phrases. "W-what else d-do y-you need to confirm…? Y-You followed her to the States, a-and her brother-er told you she… had been planning on returning to New York and she had n-never wanted to stay in Japan… A-And when you c-came back to Tokyo, you w-went to the hospital and they told you that her mentor t-took a long vacation to New York…and she t-transferred h-her transcript back to New York…And, and…"

Syaoran pressed her tighter against his body because he didn't want to hear about those things anymore, after all those times he had attempted to put those clues together to come up with a reason for his disappearance.

* * *

Eriol and Tomoyo's wedding took place at a beautiful Victorian-style chapel. The front of the chapel had a long staircase leading up to the entrance of the wedding hall, making it perfect for Tomoyo's princess-like theme. Guests began to arrive at 9:00 am for the wedding ceremony at 10:00am. The parents of Eriol and the mother of Tomoyo stood at the entrance door to greet the guests and to sign them in. There were reporters from 5 news networks who also arrived to broadcast live the wedding ceremony. Eriol, being the CEO of one of Japan's top agency, and Tomoyo, being an uprising fashion designer, gained public interest, therefore the reporters were there.

When Syaoran and Ruo Xi arrived at the scene hand-in-hand, they received much attention from both the reporters and the guests. Ruo Xi, who always enjoyed the spotlight acted naturally, and Syaoran couldn't help but felt impressed.

"Do you plan on expanding HBC productions to Japan this year?" one of the reporters asked.

"When are the two of you going to get married?" another asked.

"Today's Best Man is Mr. Li. Do you know who your partner, the Maid of Honour, is?"

Syaoran smiled politely and replied, "Today's stars are the bride and the groom. I think they deserve all the attention, not me."

When Syaoran and Ruo Xi reached the sign-in area, Syaoran greeted the parents respectfully, although from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a slight frown on Daidouji Sonomi's face.

"This is pretty, but I don't think this is my style," Ruo Xi commented on the decorations of the reception hall when they entered the chapel. Roses were the symbols that represented Eriol and Tomoyo's love, and they were attached to every part of the inside. Even the floor was filled with rose peddles.

"I'm going to the washroom," Ruo Xi told him.

"Okay, I'm going to visit the bride and the groom," he replied.

Syaoran walked out of the chapel and came face-to-face with Misaki, Yamamoto, and…Touya and his wife. When Misaki saw Syaoran, her face immediately brightened. Syaoran felt touched by her smile, but he couldn't bring himself to return the smile. Instead, he curtly nodded and disappeared into the arriving crowd. He told himself that he had to leave before he saw the hurt on Misaki's face.

When he reached the bride's dressing room, he knocked gently.

"Come in," Tomoyo called from inside.

When she turned her head to see who it was, she stared at him in surprise.

"I didn't think you would come. Does Eriol know?" Tomoyo asked, as she grabbed the phone on her lap in her hand and stood up from her chair.

"He doesn't. I'm going to him right now."

"I'm sorry that because of me, you two have been like this," Tomoyo apologized.

After Sakura's disappearance, only two people in the world knew where she went. Those two were Tomoyo and Touya. When Syaoran asked Tomoyo a year and a half ago, she had told him that she was ordered by Sakura not to tell anyone. From that day on, Syaoran took part of his anger out on Tomoyo and stopped talking to her ever since. Because Eriol chose Tomoyo over Syaoran, Syaoran became distant from Eriol for the past year.

"Don't worry about it. I apologized for what I did. You were only a middle person. If I am still angry at you now, that means I still care about her. So, I came to tell you my congratulations and that Eriol and I will go back to normal, " Syaoran extended his hand to shake hers.

Tomoyo looked up at Syaoran with sadness, as she bit the inside of her cheeks contemplatively. "You don't want to shake hands?" Syaoran asked jokingly.

"I think there is a huge misunderstanding between you and her, Syaoran—"

Syaoran held up his hand to silence her. "Let's not talk about her. I'll see you in the chapel."

With that, he left the dressing room. Tomoyo looked down at her phone and once again, pressed the recall button, hoping to contact Sakura.

* * *

During the ceremony, from the entrance of the bride to the exchange of the wedding rings, the spot for the bride's Maid of Honour was left unoccupied. Many guests who were on the groom's side looked at the empty spot in confusion, but those who knew the bride well enough, knew that it was saved for none other than Tomoyo's best friend Kinomoto Sakura.

Syaoran was well aware of the reserved spot as well. He gazed around the audience and found 'her' family constantly turning around to the door to see if that person was going to show up.

When his eyes landed on Tomoyo, he saw her eyes filled with sadness, sadness that was so deep that even on the happiest day of her life, it could not be erased so easily.

His last glimpse went to Ruo Xi, who was sitting in the third row with the other guests. She, out of all people, was extremely excited about coming to this wedding, but when he caught a glimpse, he saw that not only was she not paying attention to the front, she was also looking down on her legs as if she were thinking deeply about something.

"Now, I pronounce—"

It was at this moment that the doors of the chapel slowly opened. Everyone sitting on the benches turned curiously to see who it was.

It turned out to be 'her,' wearing a floor-length white gown and carrying a duffel bag in hand.

Her face was flushed and her breath was quick from running. She dropped her duffel bag behind the last row of the benches and ran her hands through her now-long hair that reached her midback, hoping to give it a last-minute brushing.

"I'm sorry for being late. My plane was delayed," she apologized to all the guests, the bride and the groom, breaking the silence in the large chapel. Tomoyo hand covered over her mouth in disbelief. Her eyes glistened with tears. Sakura's family members, Misaki, Yamamoto, Sonomi, Kaho, and Touya all stood up to take a better look at Sakura. It had been almost two years since any of them saw her. Without hesitation, Tomoyo ran down the aisle and threw her arms around her best friend's neck.

"Sakura, you came!"

"Yes, how can I not come for my best friend's wedding? You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen," Sakura said, hugging her friend tightly.

Tomoyo pulled away from her and led her down the aisle to where she, as the Maid of Honour, was supposed to stand.

As she looked in her direction, her eyes met with the dark amber orbs which she had tried so hard to forget for the past two years.

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** There is a huge misunderstanding between Syaoran and Sakura. He thinks that she ran off with Shin, her mentor, because of things that Touya said and the things that he found out himself, at the hospital after her disappearance. The exact story will be revealed in the next chapter. Now that the two have finally met again, what's going to happen? Especially when there's a Li Ruo Xi in the way. Will Syaoran end up marrying Ruo Xi or get back together with Sakura? Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D

Remember to review!


	23. Chapter 23

**Valkyrie85: **Hi everyone! It's been a long time, I know. I was too busy with school work so I never had a chance to write this chapter. Um...Thank you for your reviews! I read through each and every one of them and I must say, some of them were very inspiring and gave me many ideas for the stories : ) I hope you will continue to support this story till the very end! Thank you and enjoy!

PS: One thing I have to mention is that if you see names that start with Misses or Mister, instead of the abbreviated Mrs. or Mr., please don't get annoyed. The reason why I have to write out the full title is because this site won't let me do the abbreviated version for some reason.

**Chapter 23**

* * *

**A Year and a Half Ago, In the Hospital (Flashback)**

_As the painful memories came back to her, she found herself drowning into a whirlpool of emotions. Her mom, who had been a best friend and the epitome of love, support, devotion, commitment, died in her own hands. She hated herself for ever bringing up that person's name in front of her mom when they were in the car, she hated herself for living so peacefully for the past 7 seven years when she had committed such a deadly sin, she hated herself for betraying her mom's order of not falling in love with "him," and… she hated herself for being alive… _

_What was the purpose of living when the only person she truly cared about no longer lived? She felt lonely and dreadful at that moment. Her emotions blocked out her senses and memories of the others who loved her just as much as her deceased mother had._

_She pulled the needle of the IV drip from her hand and located her coat on the nearby sofa. Slowly and quietly, she opened the door of her hospital room and sneaked down the hall without catching the nurses' attention._

_As she made a turn down the hall, she found a public phone. She dialled a long chain of numbers and after a few rings, the other line picked up. _

"_Hello, this is Touya Kinomoto," he brother greeted in English. _

_Hearing her brother's voice only made her feel worse. The brother who had always been overly-protective after their mother's death, in hope of giving her the love and protection that she could no longer receive from her mother, would die from learning that she was actually the one who had killed their mother._

_Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. Her voice cracked as she begged, "Touya, I want to go home…"_

_For 20 seconds, Touya was silent as he analyzed the situation at hand. _

"_Did he break up with you?" he finally asked. _

"_No…please…I just want to go home…"_

_Touya asked no more question, recognizing the rare desperation in his sister's voice. From the intercom, he ordered Kaho to book a flight for Sakura. _

"_Okay, your flight to New York is 4:00 am Tokyo time. Right now, it's 2:30 in Tokyo. Do you have enough time to get to the airport?" _

"_Yes."_

"_I don't know where you're calling from by the unknown number. I don't know why you are calling at this time. And I don't know why you want to come back so abruptly. But as soon as you arrive, I expect you to report to my office and tell me exactly what happened. Do you understand?" Touya ordered. _

"_Yes," replied Sakura. However, she had no plans on returning to him. _

_Fifteen hours later, her plane landed in New York. She took a taxi to Stanford Cemetery, where her mother was buried. _

_There was a downpour in New York that day. Feeling the sharp rain drops against her skin as she walked through the cemetery told her that it was going to hail very soon. _

_In front of the tomb she saw a fresh bouquet of violet daisies, her mother's favourite flowers. It seemed as if it had been placed there merely one day ago. Who had visited, recently? Sakura pondered._

_She bent down on her knees until they came in contact with the cool ground and slowly wiped away little bits of dirt that was stuck on the engravement: _

_Kinomoto Nadeshiko._

_Without realizing that she had already hit her limit in the build-up of her emotions, she burst into tears. _

_Sakura stayed by her mom's grave for more than 24 hours in the unusually cold weather. When Touya didn't see her return home, he sent out people to search for her. _

_When they finally found her at the cemetery, she had already fallen into unconsciousness and her body temperature was at a dangerously low point. Every part of her body that was exposed to the cold suffered from frostbites. _

_She was then immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment. The doctors panicked because they had never seen a patient who suffered from such a severe stage of hypothermia. Her heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure were decreasing at a concerning pace, and they had even told Touya and Kaho to prepare for the worst. _

_The night during Sakura's emergency aid, Touya lost his control at the hospital. He grabbed one of the doctors treating his sister by his collar and almost strangled him, while threatening him to save his sister with every method he could find. _

"_Touya, calm down!" Kaho nails dug into his arms as she tried to pull him away from the doctor. _

"_You have to save her, do you understand? I already lost my mother, I'm not gonna lose her too!" Touya yelled straight into the poor doctor's face, ignoring Kaho's pleading. _

_The frightened doctor quickly nodded his head and promised that he was going to try his best, and then he quickly escaped into the emergency room. _

_Fortunately, Sakura survived. However she remained in a coma for more than two weeks. Instead of keeping her at the hospital, Touya chose to move her back to their New York mansion where he hired a medical team of two doctors and two nurses to watch over her until she gained consciousness. _

* * *

As she looked on, her eyes met with the dark amber orbs she had tried so hard to forget in the past two years.

His eyes bored into hers, ice cold, making her heart ache. This coldness was never once directed at her in the past. It had been directed to his parents and that was it. Even to a stranger, he had never shown this type of expression.

Sakura was starting to feel her muscles tensing and her heart pounding at a faster pace. It was something that she hadn't experienced in awhile. She mentally praised herself for taking her medication in the restroom, as a preventative measure, before entering the chapel, although she had found it quite unlikely to behave like this then. However looking at Syaoran's face now, made her sick in the stomach and want to escape through the door.

As the priest reclaimed everyone's attention, Syaoran broke the millisecond of eye contact first with a turn of his head. Immediately, Sakura's muscles relaxed again.

And for the rest of the ceremony, he never once looked at her.

* * *

After the ceremony, Eriol picked up a crying Tomoyo in his arms and carried her across the threshold of the chapel. Sakura and Syaoran led their group of bridesmaids and groomsmen and followed suit. Lastly, the guests rose from their seats and exited the chapel to see the bride's tossing of the bouquet.

"Misses Hiiragizawa, don't let our guests wait too long. It's quite cold today," Eriol said to Tomoyo with a smile. Other guests, standing in the weather that barely reached 7 degrees, were huddling close together to keep their gown-and-suit-covered bodies warm. Regardless of the temperature, they giggled at Eriol's comment.

Tomoyo sobbed, trying her best to regain a steady breath, while Sakura moved in on them and helped Tomoyo down. "If you keep crying, even your waterproof makeup will run," she joked, handing the bouquet she was holding to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo inhaled and exhaled loudly before shouting to the 200-something guest. "Okay, we have changed the traditions a bit. All female guests please step to the front!"

The female guests—married, single, divorced- shuffled excitedly in the open space for what was to come, while the male guests stood on the opposite sides of the crowd. Sakura noticed Kaho and her grandma already getting ready at the very front of the line.

Sakura, choosing to stand beside Eriol instead of her family members because of the presence of the media and her wish to leave their reunion till a more private setting, was amongst the four or five females who didn't participate in the bouquet toss. Syaoran was standing a few people away, silently observing the traditional event and Touya and Yamamoto were on the other side of the crowd, standing near the front. "You don't want the bouquet, Sakura?" Eriol asked her, with Tomoyo's voice now shouting out the countdown in the background.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't plan on getting married, so I don't want to take away one of their chances."

Eriol sighed and returned a response which both surprised and touched her deeply. "If only Tomoyo would tell me what happened to you in the past two years, then I could probably do something for you."

He paused to gather his thoughts.

" You're Tomoyo's best friend and a close younger sister, and I want to take care of you as if you are my own sister. When you feel comfortable talking about it, you can come to me. Meanwhile, welcome back, little sister! Both Tomoyo and I are glad that you came back safely."

Eriol spread his arms with a grin and hugged Sakura in a brotherly embrace. She hugged him back without hesitation and enjoyed this short moment of closeness with someone who cared about her.

"Thank you, Eriol. I really appreciate it," she said to him gratefully.

Eriol stepped back and asked, "Do you have a place to stay? Do you want to come over to our house?"

Sakura shook her head. "I think I'll be staying at the hotel with my family."

"I see. But you won't suddenly disappear again, before we come back from our honeymoon, right?" Eriol asked, half-jokingly.

"I-"

Sakura was about to answer but was interrupted by Tomoyo's voice. "Congratulations to Mrs. Jenkins, my husband's relative from England! We hope that you will have a long-lasting marriage with !"

Everyone clapped and some of the younger guests whistled as Mrs. Jenkins, a tall and elegant woman with brunette hair, and her balding husband shared a loving kiss, with the bouquet in her hand.

Beside her, Eriol whistled. "Oooo, Kell congratz!"

The female guests returned to their partners and friends with sighs of disappointment and excitement. From not far away, she saw with the corner of her eye of Syaoran taking off his tux and placing it over Ruo Xi's shoulders to keep her warm. "I almost got the bouquet when my hands were in the air and then it jumped off and landed in the woman's hands!" she heard Ruo Xi complain to Syaoran in English as he fixed the jacket over her shoulders gently. "Well, you don't need the bouquet anyways. We're getting married soon," he replied in the same language.

Sakura's heart came to a painful halt. Even Tomoyo's calling of her name couldn't bring back her attention. It was when Tomoyo's cold hand touched her warm cheek that forced her out of her trance. Tomoyo's face looked torn from what she heard. She knew that the impact on Sakura must have been ten times worse, but her friend just wasn't letting it shown. "Sakura, let's get into the car before you catch a cold."

She blankly allowed Tomoyo's hand to lead her to the car. It was a limo just for the bride and the groom, but Tomoyo pulled Sakura in anyways.

As the car began moving to the dinner party location, Tomoyo picked up Sakura's hands and quietly held them in hers. All the while, Sakura set her eyes on the passing buildings outside, until they arrived at their destination.

* * *

Twenty 8-people tables were set up for the wedding dinner. By the time the guests arrived, warm, delicious Chinese cuisine was already waiting for them at the tables. Tomoyo sat at the main table with Eriol, their parents, and Syaoran and Li Ruo Xi. Tomoyo reserved a table just for Sakura and her family members, two tables away.

"Sakura, dear, look how thin you have become!" Misaki, Sakura's grandma, cried as she cupped Sakura's face in her grandmotherly hands. The familiarity made Sakura realize that she had truly missed her family during the two years of disappearance. She wanted to be quietly held in Misaki's arms, but the guilt of her mother's death, that hadn't been unearthed for quite some time until now, stopped her from doing so. She was starting to rejoice over her decision of bringing her medication with her to Japan, since she had a feeling that it was going to be used a lot during her stay.

"Yeah, I lost some weight," she agreed, without looking into her grandma's eyes directly, for she was afraid that her emotions might get out of control. Looking around the table at her grandpa, Kaho, and Touya, she noticed all of their attention was fixed on her.

"Tell me dear, where were you for the past year? Whenever I spoke to your brother on the phone, he always told me that you were well and you were busy with your studies. I know that was not the case. I know something must have happened because no matter how busy you were, you always used to call me."

Misaki looked at Sakura with a stern face, waiting for her reply.

"Grandma, it's true. I couldn't call you because the place where I was finishing my studies was under-developed. I wasn't able to make international calls," Sakura replied truthfully.

"Under-developed? Were you not in New York?" her grandma asked confusedly.

At her remark, Sakura gratefully eyed her brother, who didn't express anything in return. She couldn't believe that Touya had kept his promise of not telling anyone about where she had been.

"No, I did my residence at a small medical clinic in Bryon, which is a town 7 hours from NYC. The town had one of the highest percentages of low income families. They couldn't afford medical support and the clinic was lacking staff, so I chose to finish my studies there for the past year."

Sakura had chosen to work in Bryon because she wanted to keep her mind occupied. Every day, she woke up at 6 and left her dorm by 7. Once she got to the clinic, she began to take care of the patients along with three other doctors. Because there were so many patients everyday and only 4 doctors available, working hours were usually very busy. She had a one-hour lunch break, and as soon as lunch was over, she had to return to her patients again. By the time it reached 8 pm, the clinic's closing time, she returned to her dorm, where she had to write a daily report/reflection of her day at work. Usually, she went to bed at around 11, and the cycle continued. This type of lifestyle lasted for an entire year. It was tiring, but it was what Sakura wanted so she could forget about her past.

"Oh dear, you must have suffered a lot. That's why you're so skinny! Here, eat some chicken," Misaki said as she placed some food into Sakura's bowl with her chopsticks.

"I told you, grandma. She WAS busy with her studies," Touya emphasized from across the table.

Misaki looked at his grandson and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Tou Tou," Misaki said, calling Touya by his childhood nickname, "You could have said that she went to Bryon. I always thought that she was in New York finishing her studies, and she never called."

Touya groaned at the embarrassing nickname.

It was Sakura who had asked him to keep her whereabouts hidden from people she knew, all except for Tomoyo, who had called nonstop and bothered Touya to no end. She didn't want people to find her because at that time, she was not able to face those who she loved. She didn't want to be happy either because she didn't deserve happiness. Seeing their faces reminded her of her mother and made her hate herself even more. So during her stay in Bryon, her brother had surprisingly kept his promise to stay away from her and not expose her whereabouts to anyone.

She had lived an undisturbed life until two weeks ago when she received Tomoyo's wedding invitation through the mail. Along with the invitation card contained a hand-written note from Tomoyo and a plane ticket that was set for an early arrival, one day before the wedding.

_Sakura, I hope you are doing well. I've missed you a lot in the past year. If you feel that you are ready to come back, please attend my wedding. If not, I understand. _

_Tomoyo_

She had stared at the note for quite some time after the mail arrived. At one point, she had actually tossed it in the garbage can because she didn't want to get herself involved in anything that reminded her of her past. However, she ended up changing her mind but was not able to make the flight on time. She quickly booked for the very next flight back to Tokyo that same day and arrived just on time for the wedding.

"But, why did you leave Tokyo so suddenly?" Misaki asked, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

Sakura hesitated because she didn't know how to respond. It was Touya who came to her rescue.

"It wasn't that sudden. She had been planning on returning for a long time, and when it was at a convenient time, she left," Touya explained while eyeing Sakura as if to warn her about something.

Misaki was confused. She felt that something wasn't right about this story, but she just didn't know what.

"Did you not like the hospital that you were working in? Were they mistreating you?" Misaki asked.

Sakura shook her head. "It wasn't that at all. I just felt more comfortable in New York because that's where I grew up in."

"I see," Misaki nodded in understanding. "But you should have told your grandpa and me about your decision, dear. It makes me sad that you did not tell me anything about it."

"I'm sorry grandma. I won't do that ever again." Sakura squeezed her grandma's soft hand in assurance, before letting go of it just as quickly. Her eyes were filled with so much sincerity that Misaki was not able to continue her complains.

"And what happened to you and Syaoran? It was he who had called me that day and asked for your whereabouts. I remembered getting very worried because he said that he couldn't find you anywhere after the two of you got into a fight and asked me if you had come to Yokohama to visit me. I told him no, and as soon as I ended the phone call, I called your brother to see if he knew where you were.

Sakura held in her breath as she listened to her grandma speak.

"I was so sure that the two of you would get married seeing how much you adored each other. I never expected that you would return to New York so soon."

Sakura's heart ached at the thought of Syaoran searching for her after her disappearance. He should have deserved more happiness, happiness that did not involve her.

"It's a long story between us, grandma," Sakura whispered weakly, hoping to end the topic as soon as possible.

"Can we not talk about this now?"

Misaki gave her an unintelligible look and quickly glanced over at Syaoran's table.

"Okay, but I just want to say that I wish the two of you could have stayed together. He is a good child. Although you two broke up, he took care of us and sent in gifts during the special holidays for us."

Sakura widened her eyes in astonishment.

* * *

The ball was the last activity of the wedding night. It was the tradition for most English weddings, and it was included in the program in respect for Eriol's background. The guests gathered in the ball room beside their dinning hall and welcomed the bride, the groom, and the Master of Ceremony, Inrio Chiharu, an old friend of Eriol's, onto the dance floor.

Tomoyo, who had switched into yet another gown from her new collection, gathered the bottom of her dress in one hand and held it against one of Eriol's, while she placed her other one on his shoulder.

As Chopin's waltz began, the beautiful couple twirled comfortably around the room in grace. The guests sighed in admiration and enjoyed watching the first dance of the night.

Sakura pulled out her phone from the pocket of her red dress and began taking a video of the couple. Their every movement and smile was captured in her phone as she followed them across the dance floor. Given the position as the maid of honour made the job a lot easier, because the guests naturally moved out of Sakura's way as she tried to take the videos from different angles.

She was very happy for her friends. When they noticed Sakura filming them, they waved into the phone with huge smiles, which immediately affected her own emotions. During the short five minutes of filming, she was able to let herself immerse in their contagious joy. She found herself smiling, sometimes even grinning at the sight in front of her. It was an amazing feeling because it had been a long time since she felt this much happiness inside her body.

"That was—beautiful!" Chiharu roared through the microphone when the song ended.

Eriol and Tomoyo giggled and shared a kiss in front of the crowd, which immediately received a huge round of applause from the guests.

"Now, as part of the English tradition, the second dance must be given to the maid of honour and the best man! Let's welcome Li Syaoran and Kinomoto Sakura!"

The announcement received another round of applause. The guests helped looking for the two people around the packed room.

Sakura, who was putting her phone back into the pocket of her skirt, looked up and stared at Chiharu with widened eyes. She wasn't the only one.

Tomoyo left Eriol's embrace and walked over to Chiharu's side gingerly. "Didn't I tell you to take that out of the program, Chiharu?" she whispered, trying not to catch the crowd's attention.

Chiharu eyebrows raised in realization. "Oh no, I forgot!"

Tomoyo looked at her in disappointment and grabbed the microphone out of her hands. "A change of plan. The second dance goes to all the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. Please step forth and choose a partner amongst the—"

"What happened to following the English traditions?" Syaoran appeared from the back of the crowd and joked. His face held a playful smirk which he had not shown for a while. Tomoyo looked at him with raised eyebrows.

He sauntered towards Sakura and bowed forward in an English gentleman style, with one hand behind his back and the other stretched in front of him to receive his partner's hand. Then, he looked up through his curtain of long lashes and asked, "Will you give me this dance, Miss Kinomoto? I promise I won't bite."

He had said the same words to her at the photo shoot two years ago, and now, he received the same reaction from the crowd. They erupted into giggles and cheered him on.

Although he had a smile on his face, she did not see it in his eyes. His eyes were cold as ice, and there was even a hint of anger.

She knew he was testing her, maybe even daring her to accept his invitation. Inside, she was fighting for control. A part of her wanted to run out the door and avoid him forever, but another part of her was curious about his present. In the end, she chose to accept his invitation. She told herself that the only reason she was accepting was so that she could prove to him that she was no longer interested in him and that she had already moved on.

"Please be patient with me," she finally said in a calm and friendly voice. "I am not very good at this."

"Gladly." As soon as she put her hand in his, he pulled her towards the centre of the circle. Tomoyo gave Sakura a wary gaze before she, Eriol and Chiharu moved cleared the space. The guests all watched with anticipation.

He placed one of his hands on her waist and the other against her hand. Once another piece of waltz began, he started to guide her across the dance floor.

It was harder than she thought it would be. Her eyes could not meet his and were glued on his chest while they danced. It was made even harder when she could feel him looking intently down at her. The way that his body was tensing as the minutes went by, and the crowd's focus on them, did not improve her situation.

Throughout the dance, they didn't talk. When the song was finished, the oblivious crowd clapped their hands, but the clapping ceased when Chiharu talked into the microphone again.

"T-thank you, Sakura and Syaoran! Now that the first and second dances are over, please step into the circle and enjoy yourselves!"

As soon as her surrounding was filled with people, she abruptly stepped away from Syaoran's hold and escaped through the doors to the washroom.

She paced to her destination. She could feel her heart beating so fast that it felt like it was going to explode bur didn't know why her heart behaved in such a way. Was she nervous? Was her body finding new ways to punish her sins? Or, was she still unable to forget him?

Her hands and body began to shake vigorously. Flashbacks of the car crash, illusions of her dying beside her mom's grave, her mom telling her to stay away from Syaoran…

She was scared because she knew what those reactions meant.

"Oh my God, this isn't happening. I already took my medication…" she whispered sharply to herself as she continued to walk through the dimly-lighted washroom hallway.

When her phone vibrated against her leg, she pulled it out with unstable hands.

"H-hello?"

The other line was silent for a few seconds before they replied.

"Miss Kinomoto, are you alright?" It was her mentor and savior during the most depressed time of her life in New York, Yasahiro Shin. Listening to his voice immediately soothed her like no medicine could. She stopped in the midst of her walking and leaned against the wall for support.

"Mr. Yasahiro…" She sighed in relief and leaned her head back against the wall. The shaking of her hands began to cease as a small smile crept up on her face.

"Have you taken your medication today?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you for your concern. Now I'm feeling better."

There was another pause on Shin's side before he added, "Did it come back because you saw him today?" His tone of voice was concerned but also with a hint of something else that she couldn't describe.

"Yes, I saw him." The image of Syaoran putting his tux over Ruo Xi flashed through her mind as she answered Shin.

"Don't push yourself too much, Miss Kinomoto. You must watch over yourself," he said.

Sakura knew what he meant. She nodded and said "Thank you," to him. "Are you free tomorrow? I would like to have dinner with you."

"Yes, tomorrow I'm off. Michio has been bothering me non-stop and asking me when you'll see him." Sakura could hear the smile in his voice as he gave his reply.

Uncontrollably, Sakura smiled too.

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

Sakura hung up and placed the phone back into her pocket. She released another sigh of relief as she continued to the washroom.

"Why do you still use formalities when you are dating?" From not far behind Sakura, Syaoran spoke.

She turned around and watched him as he slowly made his way closer to her. Again, he had that smile on his face that did not reach his eyes.

"I don't think that's any of your business," she replied coldly to him, while forcing herself to make direct eye contact with him to get her point across.

He moved closer to her until they were only 5 steps apart. "But, if the woman in this relationship is the same one who abandoned me almost two years ago, then it is my business."

Sakura froze, completely paralyzed on the ground because of his words.

He took advantage of her silence and advanced forward again until they were so close that she could hear his breathing.

"So tell me, why exactly have you, a cruel woman who didn't even bother calling her grandparents when they fell ill, returned for a friend's wedding? Surely, to you, family is more important than friends?" he questioned, eyes fixing on hers intensely.

She was taken aback by his use of words, but she recollected herself and looked up at him unwaveringly. "Because attending this wedding was not the only purpose. I missed my boyfriend and my boyfriend's son greatly, so I had to come back and see them."

The words came out of her mouth without thinking. She mentally slapped herself for getting Shin involved, but the damage was already done. Suddenly, Syaoran pushed her back against the wall and pinned her arms with his hands with force. He was exploding with anger, unlike anything Sakura had seen before.

If looks could kill, it applied to this situation now. His eyes and the aura around him emitted so much anger that for the first time around him, Sakura felt frightened.

"I never believed those people when they told me that you ran off with him. I expected you to prove them wrong, but you disgusted me with your answer," he hissed dangerously.

"I apologize if that was not the answer you were looking for. But the truth is, those people were right." She glared at him and was pushed against the wall with even more force.

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** What do you think about Sakura's reply to Syaoran? Did she actually run off with Shin, or was it all a huge misunderstanding? If it was the latter, why didn't Sakura deny his accusations? Furthermore, what did it mean when it said that Shin was her "savior?" Any guesses? (A few flashbacks will reveal what happened after Sakura disappeared). Does Sakura still like Syaoran, and what about the other way around...?

I hope this chapter cleared up some confusions for you. If not, please do post them in your review. If you have any suggestions/comments/feelings to share, please also post them in your review! : )

I hope to see lots of reviews! Thanks to all!


	24. Chapter 24

Valkyrie85: Thank you to those who read chapter 23 and those who left a review! Many of you thought that it was stupid of Sakura to say those harsh words to Syaoran. Many of you also suspected that there was actually something going on between Shin and Sakura. I won't tell you if there is, so you'll just have to find out by reading! xp

There was a review that caught my attention, and I think it would benefit everyone if I write my reply here.

The reviewer said that there's not much romance in this story and that Sakura, in particular, has never expressed much romantic feelings from the beginning of the chapter till now.

**My Reply: **Well, that is the beauty of Sakura's personality. Because she is very protective of herself and her emotions, she does not like to express them often. She's afraid that if she does express them, she will get hurt. She may seem like she has not shown much romance, you just have to be very in-depth when reading(her feelings described in the story are usually more implicit than explicit).

Because there are so many characters in the story, it would help if I list the main ones here with their ages (as of this chapter).

Sakura (24), Tomoyo (24), Ruo Xi (26), Syaoran (27), Eriol (27), Shin (29), Touya (31)

* * *

**Chapter 24**

Syaoran had Sakura pinned against the wall, leaving her no space to escape or to retaliate. Their position was in no way romantic or intimate, even from an outsider's view. His nails dug into Sakura's arms painfully, but he was oblivious to the pain that he was causing her.

"I was willing to give up everything for you, my career, my money, and my family responsibilities. But now I realize what I tried to do was beyond stupid because I was the only one who had felt that way," he sneered sharply at his own comment.

The sudden confession shocked Sakura. She wanted to look up and meet him straight in the eye, but her body muscles failed to cooperate. Did he mean what he say? She thought. _Yes he did. _The deepness of his voice told her that he was being serious and truthful about his feelings, and it was beginning to hurt her deeply.

"And now, I ask you this: did you ever love me, Kinomoto Sakura, even the tiniest bit?" Syaoran asked, feeling pathetic for posing such a lame question.

_Did I love you?_ Sakura repeated the question inside her head. _Up till this point, I still have no clue. Before my memories returned, I was slowly counting down the days before September arrived and I treasured every moment we spent together. I was deeply touched by all those things you did for me, buying me the painting and the bracelet that I had lost, protecting me from the paparazzi, encouraging me when I felt discouraged, spending time with me even though you were always so busy, showering me with gifts that I did not deserve, and treating me in a way that I did not deserve. After my memories returned, all of the feelings and emotions towards you that you had unearthed within me suddenly vanished. I couldn't forgive myself and couldn't let those emotions sidetrack me any longer once I realized the sins that I had committed. _

_I forced myself to forget about you during my years of disappearance, which I thought would have been easy. But, it was…anything but that. You were part of the reason why I went to Bryon. You were part of the reason why I had to stay there for a year, to tire my mind and body out everyday so that I didn't have to think about you, my mother, my grandparents, and everyone else that I cared about but whose love and affection I did not deserve in return. So, was this all love? I tell myself it's not because what good does it bring to the present now, which has progressed smoothly while I was away? I will never forgive myself and I will never love again, so this feeling could be thrown out without anyone realizing that it had once existed… _

The self-reflection made her realize what she had to say to Syaoran. She felt confidence building inside of her as she formed her reply but was still unable to look him straight in the eye. "I never did," she said.

He pressed her wrists harder against the wall, if that was even possible, out of anguish. "Look me in the eye and answer."

Sakura released a sigh as if she were impatient and shot her eyes up at him. "Li Syaoran, I had no feelings for you before and I still don't have any now. The only reason why I decided to go out with you for real was because you were one of the top celebrities then and I wanted to experience the luxurious lifestyle and being under the spotlight. But you had foolishly fallen for me and it became too much of a burden."

Sakura mentally praised herself for her acting skills when she felt Syaoran's hands and body slowly leaving her own.

As he stepped back, he displayed an unintelligible look. It was when he spoke that the hurt and betrayal he felt towards her unleashed. "You are truly an amazing woman, Sakura. You deserve a round of applause for putting up a show that even I couldn't tell was an act. I guess it was karma. Finally someone had to get me back for playing the girls that were used as marketing tools for my job."

Each and every word that came out of Syaoran's mouth was like needles that pricked her heart. They were beginning to have an effect on her tears as well, which were dangerously on the verge of rushing out.

"This part of my body," he hit his fist against his chest, "will always remember your betrayal and the pain that you have caused me. Now I am officially breaking off the relationship with you so that I can at the very least save the last bit of pride for getting played by the one and only woman I loved."

His fingers lightly brushed against her cheek as he looked at her with a sad smile, before turning his back on her to return to the ballroom.

Sakura's hand subconsciously touched the part of the face where Syaoran's fingers had contact with, as she watched his retreating back. There was a dark and lonely aura that surrounded him, but she could feel his warmth lingering on her cheek.

It wasn't long before the tears she had fought back flooded her face. The hot tears made her so weak that her legs could no longer support her standing self. She dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees and cried softly. She made sure that her dress muffled her voice so that no one knew she was crying.

This was how she wanted the relationship to end. She wanted Syaoran to hate her to the guts so that he would never talk to or see her again. This way, she could forget about him quicker.

_It's over. It's finally over._

* * *

Touya had followed Syaoran out of the ballroom after he realized that Syaoran was following his sister. During Sakura and Syaoran's conversation, he had hidden himself behind the semi-opened doors, in hope of stepping in when necessary.

After the conversation was done and Syaoran returned to the ballroom, Touya wanted to approach Sakura immediately but stopped when his sister fell to the floor, crying like he had never seen her done before. The only other time similar to this extent was when she had woken up in the hospital in New York and retold the story of the day of the accident to him.

When he could no longer stay put, he finally came out of his hiding place.

"Why did you lie to him?" he asked her, standing in front of her fragile body.

Sakura looked up with red, teary eyes.

"Were you here the whole time?" she asked.

"Yes. Why did you say things that weren't true?" he pressed on.

"Why do you care?" she asked sharply. "The result is what you have always wanted, is it not? My relationship with him is over now. I won't have anything to do with him, so don't worry," Sakura assured her brother solemnly.

Touya wanted to say something in return but hesitated. He stared at his sister's face for a long time before realizing that what he had to say should be left till another day.

"Let's go," he said, "I'll take you back to the hotel. You are in no condition to return."

Bending down, he offered his back to his weak sister to climb on. Seeing him in this position reminded her of the happier times of her childhood when Sakura used to get injured in the park and had to be piggy-backed home by her brother, who was 7 years older than her.

A sudden rush of warmth ran through her as she climbed onto her brother's back. "Thank you, brother," she whispered and hugged him tightly.

* * *

Sakura rose from her bed and noticed that she was inside her hotel room, with the curtains pulled open so that the beautiful sunlight penetrated through the windows.

It was 11:35 a.m. She couldn't recall how many hours of sleep she had gotten last night because everything happened in a blurb.

But what she did remember was that for the longest time, last night was the one and only night that she did not have nightmares about the accident. Perhaps it was because she had exhausted herself from all the crying.

Beside her on the nightstand, there was a handwritten note from her grandma as well as a bottle of water.

_Good morning, Sakura!_

_I'm very sorry that your grandpa and I aren't with you this morning. Our tenant called last night and said that a huge rat entered the house and made a mess everywhere. We must return quickly to get someone to take the rat out. I know that you have some business to take care of in Tokyo, so make sure you come to Yokohama after to visit! _

_Also, your brother and Kaho had a 7 o'clock flight this morning to France, so they told me to say bye to you._

_Love Sakura, _

_Grandma_

Sakura sighed. She was all alone. Her grandparents went back to Yokohama, her brother and sister-in-law went to France, and Eriol and Tomoyo were probably on the plane right now to Hawaii for their honeymoon._ What did she have in plan for today?_

"Oh right, I'm meeting Michio and Shin today," she said to herself, suddenly remembering last night's phone call.

She quickly got up and started getting ready for the day.

* * *

_Ding ding ding. _

_Knock knock knock. _

Syaoran woke up to the huge commotion at the door of his hotel room. He kicked his cover away with irritation and stormed to the door.

"XIAO LANG!"

With surprise, he was suddenly engulfed in a huge embrace by none other than Li Ruo Xi.

"干吗拉？" he asked impatiently. (What?)

"总算起了。我来过好多次可你都听不见。你从来不睡懒觉的啊!今天干吗了？"(You're finally awake. I came here so many times but you never heard me. You don't have the habit of sleeping-in, what happened today?)

"不知道今天感觉特别捆。"Syaoran replied with a yawn. (I don't know. I feel especially tired today).

Ruo Xi stood at the threshold, mesmerized the perfect look of a messy and unkempt Syaoran. She quickly shook her head out of it and said,"算了，快点准备出发吧！"(Whatever. Hurry up and let's go!)

"去哪里？"Syaoran asked, feeling confused. (Where are we going?)

Ruo Xi pouted."你忘了今天是什么日子啦？"(You forgot about today?)

"什么日子？"(What's today?)

"今天我们要订婚了！"(Today is our official engagement party!)

Syaoran yawned again."噢，对。可是那是在晚上." (Oh, right. But that's in the evening.)

She showed him a huge grin. "我知道。不过我现在想跟你约会。" (I know, but I want to go on a date with you right now.)

"你想去哪里？"(Where do you want to go?)

"游乐场。"(The amusement park!)

Syaoran raised his eyebrows."你有问题吗？你今天年几岁？"(Are you crazy? How old are you?)

"我26。那有什么问题？很多情侣都去游乐场不管他们有多小或多老。"(I'm 26. What's wrong with that? A lot of couples go to amusement parks no matter how young or old they are.)

Syaoran shook his head in disagreement."哪里人很多。我去的话会出事的"(There's too many people. If I go, I will cause a scene.)

Suddenly from inside of her bag, Ruo Xi pulled out a black medium-length wig and a pair of no-lens, black-framed glasses."所以我就叫你准备。伪装以下就行了。"(That's why I'm telling you to get ready. Disguise yourself.)

Syaoran looked at the gears, which used to be his survival kit, in Ruo Xi's hands hesitantly. "去吗！去吗去吗！！"(Go! GO! GO!) Ruo Xi begged Syaoran.

Syaoran sighed."哎哟好了。我去。你先下去吃点东西。我准备一下。"(Okay fine, I'll go. You go downstairs to eat some breakfast while I get ready.)

"See you!" she tippy-toed and kissed his cheek before running down the corridor.

* * *

Syaoran took his time to get ready. By the time he finished drying his wet hair, his phone rang.

He grabbed it and saw Hikari's name on the caller's ID. "Hello?"

"Xiao Lang, how was the wedding last night?" Hikari greeted.

"Good morning. It was good. Eriol told me to say 'thank you' for your present. "

"No problem. So, tonight is the engagement party right?"

"Yes," Syaoran replied, walking over to the bathroom with the wig in hand.

"And afterwards, you're heading to NYC for the MeddleWave Conference?"

"Mmhm." He gave the wig a skeptical look and placed it on his own hair. "Have you organized the group that's going with me?"

"Yes, six people will be accompanying you along with your 3 assistants. However, one of them who is a translator for English suddenly called in today saying that she caught the seasonal flu and won't be able to accompany you to NYC."

Whenever Syaoran flew around the world for the international meetings, he always brought along 3 assistants who could interpret for him and his entourage as well as taking important notes and preparing documents for the meetings. For the NYC conference, an English, a Spanish, and a French-speaking assistants were required.

Syaoran paused at what he was doing. "I'm trying to find a replacement for you right now, but I'm not sure if we could prepare the new person's VISA on time," Hikari reported.

"Well, try your best. If not call me again," he said, going back to fixing the wig. Now that he had used his styling techniques to fix the wig, it didn't seem as bad as he had imagined.

"What about Ruo Xi? She has an American passport doesn't she?"

"She does, but she has to go back to Hong Kong tomorrow because she needs to take care of some family business."

"Oh, I see. I guess I shouldn't be wasting anymore time. I'll call you if I can't find one."

"Thanks Hikari," Syaoran said. "I know I could always count on you."

With that, he hung up the phone.

He returned to his bed and retrieved the glasses.

"Not bad," Syaoran commented on the image he saw in the mirror.

* * *

**Valkyrie85:** It was a pretty short chapter, but a lot of things happened. First, Syaoran and Sakura's relationship is officially over. Second, Syaoran's relationship with Ruo Xi is officially starting. One relationship shortly leads to another. The story seems so perfect now that I could just end it like that, but I won't xp

So how will our main protagonists get back together? (or will they?) Will there be any obstables ahead? Well, you'll only find out if you continue reading and reviewing!

**So review review review!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Valkyrie85: **Here's the rest of the chapter. Thank you for patiently waiting! If you want to get into the mood of the story, you can listen to Scribble, by a very famous South Korean boy band, MBLAQ (They're my favourite, by the way.) I found the lyrics to the song extremely similair to the situation in the story now.

**Chapter 25**

**On the Plane**

Kaho's head left her husband's shoulders as she looked at him with a slight bit of concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Touya came out of his trance and eyed her with a confused look. "Huh?"

"What's wrong with you today? I've been asking you questions but you're just ignoring me…" Kaho placed a hand on Touya's forehead and waited for the temperature of his body to sink in. "Doesn't seem like you're sick to me. You've been acting weird since yesterday, Touya. What's wrong?"

Touya immediately grabbed a random magazine from the seat pocket and began flipping through it, while trying to act normal. "Nothing's wrong. I just have a headache from yesterday."

Kaho took the magazine away from her husband and stared at him until he looked into her eyes. "Don't make up excuses. You only had two glasses of wine last night. That shouldn't be enough to give _you_ a headache,okay? You better tell me what's going on with you."

Kaho was a strong believer in honesty as being the foundation of a successful and long-lasting marriage. That is why she must know what was bothering her husband.

"It's about Sakura…" he trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain the situation. Kaho waited patiently as he searched for the right words.

"She seems like she likes Li Syaoran. I was there last night when they were talking in the hallway and afterwards, she cried like I've never seen her done before. "

"What were they talking about?" Kaho asked, even though she already kind of knew the answer herself.

"Li Syaoran accused Sakura of cheating on him with Shin and Sakura stupidly went along with it. Then he broke it off with her."

Kaho shook her head in disappointment. "Oh Sakura, she always keeps everything to herself and takes all the blame. What are we going to do with your sister?" Kaho sighed.

Touya nodded in agreement. "My idiotic sister is going to lose everything that's dear to her with a personality like hers."

"I'm glad you're finally accepting the truth, Touya," Kaho said.

"What truth?" He looked at his wife confusedly.

"That you know your sister loves Syaoran."

Touya huffed but didn't say anything to defend his stance. Kaho's lips raised into a small approving smile.

"And you have to fix the current situation, because you know it's all your fault. If you hadn't lied to both Sakura and Syaoran about the truth, none of this would have happened."

Touya looked out the plane window and watched the clouds outside. Then he felt Kaho's warm hand on his arm.

"If you want to see your sister happy again, you have to tell her that she was not the one who caused your mom's death, but your dad was. And if possible, you have to get in contact with Syaoran and explain that you lied to him about Sakura two years ago when he came to find Sakura in the States."

* * *

_Two weeks after Sakura secretly returned to NYC, Shin also left for the same place to attend the opening ceremony of a new neuropsychology research centre. He was there to represent his mentor, Fukomoto Kenji, who was unable to attend the special event. _

_Of course, Shin was one of the few who knew about Sakura's disappearance, so he was extremely surprised during his visit to the research centre when he saw a beautiful woman, who seemed as if she were a part of Sakura's family, supporting Sakura as she and Sakura both walked down the hospital corridor towards the exit door. Behind them was a well-dressed and dark-haired man who seemed like a bodyguard to the two females, following closely with a small travelling bag in hand. _

_That day, Shin noticed that Sakura had no sense of "life" in her eyes. Even though it had only been two week since he had last seen her, she seemed about 10 pounds thinner. She paid no attention to where she was going as her head was kept down and she seemed so weak that she wouldn't have been able to walk by herself. Overall, there was an aura of gloominess coming from her as she walked past Shin towards the opposite direction without noticing him. _

_Shin hesitated, wondering if he should greet Sakura. No matter what, he was still her mentor and he had a right to know why all of sudden his student was no longer studying with him. _

"_Miss Kinomoto." He paused on his feet and turned around to face the group of three._

_There was just silence for the first 10 seconds. Then, as if Sakura had finally realized that someone had called her, she slowly turned to see who had called her name. The woman looked at him with curiosity, while the bodyguard-like man stared at him in an unfriendly manner. _

_Shin closed the distance between them to an appropriate length before saying, "I'm glad to see you here. Did you transfer back to NYC for your residence?" _

_Sakura looked at Shin with a lifeless look, and then said, "Hello, . I've transferred back to the States. I'm sorry that I made the decision without discussing it with you first."_

_The man at the back turned to Sakura and asked in Japanese, "Who is he?" _

_Shin noticed Sakura replying to the man with a sudden change of cold voice, "He was my mentor in Tokyo. Mr. Yasahiro, let me introduce you to my brother, Kinomoto Touya, and my sister-in-law, Kinomoto Kaho…" _

…_._

_The simple encounter led to a series of events that eventually saved Sakura's life. Two days after their meeting, Shin received a call from Touya, who asked Shin to help his sister out of the trauma she was suffering as a result of finally recalling the tragic accident that had killed her mother many years ago. Shin declined the request at first when he found out that Touya had hired investigators to look into his past and the death of his wife. Touya told him that Shin was the only person he thought could help his sister because the two of them had the same kind of unfortunate experience and he could probably do some counselling with Sakura. _

_However in the end, Shin agreed to help Sakura recover because he remembered the painful stages in life that he went through after his wife's death, and he realized that he didn't want to see someone who he knew suffer like he did. From that day on, he visited Sakura's house everyday and did counselling with her until she began to slowly see the "light" in life again. While he extended his trip in the States, little Michio was taken care of by one of his friends' parents. _

* * *

Syaoran and Ruo Xi had a memorable day at the amusement park. For the first time in a while, Syaoran was able to enjoy himself without fearing for any consequences that might occur as a result of his actions.

For that, he had to thank no one but Li Ruo Xi. It was she who had confiscated his phone, laptop, and anything else that was related to work the minute they landed in Japan. It was also she who forbade him to talk about work, at least in her presence (she had no clue that he was using the phone in his hotel room to keep in contact with his subordinates in Hong Kong every night). And, it was she who took him to the amusement park and made him forget about everything that was piled up in his mind at the moment. For all of these reasons, he felt thankful that someone like her was part of his life.

In order to show her his appreciation for her efforts, he even agreed to her begging and got her a huge teddy bear from the hoop-shooting game. Even though Ruo Xi was probably even better at shooting hoops than Syaoran was since she used to be on the basketball team at her school, he still played the game for her and got ten shots in a row. His precise aiming received quite a bit of attention because as they were about to walk away from the hut after collecting "Xiao Lang," as Ruo Xi had later named him, there was a crowd of people watching them. For a minute, Syaoran thought that his real identity was discovered even though he still had the wig and the sunglasses on, but then deciphering the expressions on the people's faces, he knew that it was not the case.

After shooting the hoops, it was close to noon. Ruo Xi complained about her hunger and the two of them walked hand-in-hand towards the nearest restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant was interesting. In fact, it matched the name of the restaurant, which was "Bumpy Ride Restaurant." There were no regular tables inside the restaurant. Instead, there were tables inside each of the many different types of classic vintage cars. The floor of the restaurant was drawn into 3 lanes, as if it were a road. And surrounding the "car tables" were wallpapers that showed houses and stores aligning the sides of the highway. Finally, there were street signs and lamp posts here and there that made the interior even more realistic.

With the restaurant's decorations, it was no wonder that there were so many children, who had come with their parents, running around excitedly inside when Syaoran and Ruo Xi entered from the front door.

They were guided to a quieter part of the room, near the back, and were given the restaurant's menu. Syaoran tossed the bear lightly onto the seat before climbing into the car himself. Ruo Xi observed the surrounding happily as she sat down across from him.

* * *

When little Michio got out of his dad's car, he ran straight into Sakura's waiting arms without feeling any kind of awkwardness towards her, even though he had not seen her for almost two years. "Mommy!" he exclaimed happily as he planted a kiss on Sakura's cheek.

Sakura was glad that the child didn't change much other than his height during her absence. She was still able to pick him in her arms, however with a little bit more effort than before.

From the other side of the car, Shin appeared and he walked towards them with a rare smile on his face. "Michio, what did I just tell you in the car?" It wasn't meant to be a scolding, but it had a hint of irritation.

Michio looked down sadly and hugged Sakura's neck, as he quietly mumbled, "But I want to call you Mommy even if you're not my Mommy."

Sakura immediately understood what Shin had meant. She gently rubbed the child's small back and whispered, "Call me whatever you like, Michio. I'm your Mommy and I'll always be your Mommy."

She gave a determined look at Shin, who sighed in defeat and gave up on the topic for now. He marched to the back of the car and held the door open for the two. "Let's get going. The circus show will be starting soon."

During the ride to the amusement park, Shin had to let his doctoral instincts slide as he was not able to ask about Sakura's condition because she was busy conversing with Michio. He quickly took a glance at them through the rear view mirror and noticed that she seemed better, at least physically, although the amount of weight she had lost then wasn't completely regained. As for her psychological conditions, he wasn't able to decipher them at the moment. So, he told himself that he would observe her throughout the day just to see how well she was able to handle her emotions.

* * *

"Yeah, and she probably wants lemon sorbet as a dessert, so please add that as well," Syaoran told the waiter and nodded his head towards the empty seat across from his, as he handed the menu back to him.

"Sure, your food will be ready for you very shortly," the waiter politely said as he walked back to the kitchen to place the orders.

"Thank you."

Syaoran took a sip of his glass of water and looked around at the front part of the restaurant, where the kids were running after each other playing tag. He realized that he had not interacted with a young child for quite some time, and staring at them right now, he somehow felt a sense of jealousy towards them because they were able to be so carefree.

He sighed and turned away from the sight. However, before he did so, he saw two people, a man and a child, coming in from the front door and waiting to be seated at a table. Something told him that he knew them, but he just couldn't recall who they were. As they were guided towards a table that was 2 away from his, their identity began to dawn on him. He knew immediately who the kid was the minute the kid's eye colour was close enough for him to recognize. He knew that the kid was Kinomoto Sakura's mentor's kid, whose name started with an M. Despite the child's above-average cute face, Syaoran could not feel any affection towards him. Even the tiger ear headband he was wearing on his head, which he got from the souvenir shops in the zoo, couldn't make Syaoran like him.

For a reason he knew well, he despised the kid with all of his heart.

And the same kind of feeling multiplied by ten times was directed at his dad, Yasahiro Shin. If Shin had not sat with his face facing away from him, he didn't know what kind of actions he might take.

The two of them did not notice that Syaoran was staring at them. The little kid swung his body back and forth on the chair and looked around the room with the same kind of excitement as that of Ruo Xi when Syaoran first entered the restaurant with her. He grinned as his dad stretched across the table to run his hand over his hair, as if he were praising him for something.

Suddenly, the kid jumped off of his chair and ran towards the door when the bell of the front door rang.

In walked Kinomoto Sakura, the woman who he least expected to find at a place like this. He watched her taking his small hand and leading him back towards their table. The tiger ear headband on her head told him that it wasn't just a coincidental meet-up with the other two. It made him feel sick to see the three of them together, so he turned his head away from them and checked to see if Ruo Xi was returning from the washroom.

Sakura didn't take a seat beside Michio. Instead, she went straight towards Shin's side of the table and pulled his arm out to check the deep cut on his right arm. None of them knew what had happened for him to get this kind of injury when they were at the zoo. Sakura insisted that she would go to the nearest pharmacy to get some band-aids and some rubbing alcohol. She looked at the wound carefully before placing his arm back down.

"It's not a big deal," Shin commented on his arm. He was about to take out the band-aid from the bag that Sakura brought, but Sakura grabbed it quickly before he had a chance to.

"Please, Mister Yasahiro. We don't even know how you got that cut. What if you get infected?" Sakura said, giving the bag for Michio to keep. "Consider this a testing of my skills."

Shin watched her as she left for the washroom to clean her hands.

Sakura entered the washroom and came face-to-face with Ruo Xi, who was just about to leave.

Both of them stood there in silence, not knowing what to say to each other, until a child behind Ruo Xi asked her to politely move out of her way.

"Long time no see," Ruo Xi started the conversation in English, with an emotionless voice when the child was gone.

"Yeah," Sakura replied, feeling that their old friendship was non-existent. She moved herself into the washroom, so that the door behind her could close.

"I think there really is magic going on. We see each other no matter where we go, back then and now." Sakura understood what she meant because she felt exactly the same way. Yesterday she saw her at the wedding with Syaoran, but never had a chance to talk to her, which she was glad about. But today she couldn't think of a reason why she would see her at this place.

As if she was able to read her mind, Ruo Xi said, "I came here with Xiao Lang. He's ordering food outside right now. Are you here with friends?" She glanced at her headband.

Hearing Syaoran's name made her heart skip. She didn't know he was in the restaurant when she was outside.

"Yeah," Sakura said weakly.

Ruo Xi nodded. "Okay, see you." The atmosphere in the washroom was nothing but awkward. Neither knew what to say, yet neither understood the cause for the awkwardness.

"See you," Sakura replied. Assuming that their conversation had ended, Sakura paced to the sink to clean her hands.

However, Ruo Xi's voice traveled to her ears again. "I listened in on the two of you last night."

Sakura's hands immediately paused under the running water.

"I never knew you are that kind of person. Even now, I still can't imagine that the Sakura I thought I once knew is like this. I know that your character has nothing to do with me, but I can't let it pass without saying a word if it hurts the man I love."

Ruo Xi had her back facing Sakura as she was speaking because she was sure that her courage would disappear if she had looked at Sakura.

"I've never in my life met a man like him who could be so crazy about a girl. He gave up his film award so he could go find you in the States, but only to be told by your brother that you didn't want him anymore—"

"My brother said what?" Sakura's head turned swiftly towards Ruo Xi.

"Your brother told him that you got bored of the relationship and that you had asked him to transfer you back to New York as soon as possible. Don't pretend like you don't know anything about this," Ruo Xi said with a hint of rising anger.

Sakura was at a loss for words. She knew nothing about Touya's lies, or even Syaoran's visit to New York.

She was beginning to feel anger towards her own brother, but she also didn't want to defend herself because she knew it would be the best for everyone who was involved if she didn't. In the end, she chose to remain silent.

"Even with that, he still didn't leave the country. On the last day when he went to your house, he found you and your mentor cozying up in the garden before he got dragged away by your guards…"

Sakura was no longer listening to Ruo Xi. Now she understood why Syaoran was mad at her last night, and where all of the "You cheated on me" stuff came from. She felt the energy in her legs being sucked right out of her, and she held onto the edge of the sink for support.

Ruo Xi seemed to have asked a question because she finally turned her head to look at Sakura when she got no answer. The rim of her eyes was slightly red and watery. "I will never forgive you for what you did to him. But I need confirmation from you that you don't have feelings for him anymore."

"Why?" Sakura asked weakly.

"Because tonight is our engagement party, and I don't want to have remorse for taking him away, even though it was your fault in the first place."

For the first time since seeing Ruo Xi, she finally saw her old self. She didn't know whether to praise her or to call her stupid for being so nice to her old love rival.

"If you really listened in on our conversation, you would have heard me say that I never liked him in the first place. So, you don't have to feel guilty. I don't want him anymore, so just take him," Sakura said, almost in an arrogant voice. She hoped that it sounded as close as how she wanted it to sound.

Ruo Xi frowned in disgust. "Wow, you're a real bitch."

Sakura winced at her word, but recovered quick enough for it to be unnoticeable. "I know," she agreed softly.

* * *

It took a long time for Sakura to control her emotions before she stepped out of the washroom. As she was on her way back to her table, she saw Syaoran sitting two tables away from hers. Even with a wig and a pair of fake glasses on, she knew it was him.

He didn't seem to have noticed her because he was so enticed by whatever Ruo Xi was telling him about, which she knew was definitely not the conversation she just had with her.

When Ruo Xi dipped a fry in ketchup and brought it up to his mouth, he took a huge bite of it. Sakura look away. For the rest of her time there, she never looked in that direction again.

After the three of them ate, Michio ran off with a friend to the restaurant playground, leaving just Shin and Sakura at the table. Their time alone wasn't as awkward as it had been before he spent time with her in NYC. She felt a sense of attachment towards him because she and he were both living in their own guilt of causing the death of their loved one. Although still using formalities, she didn't consider him a friend, a lover, or a family member. He was just someone in an entirely different category.

He questioned her plans after Bryon, to which she had no answer. He suggested that she could travel around the world and volunteer in the developing countries. It was a dream that he once had, but was unable to accomplish because of the birth of Michio and the death of his wife.

Sakura said she would consider the suggestion. Meanwhile, she just wanted to wait until Tomoyo returned from her honeymoon.

Almost an hour into their lunchtime, Shin received an urgent phone call from the hospital for an on call. Seeing that Michio was still enjoying his time with his new friends, Sakura said that she would take him home later. Shin apologized for the trouble and handed his house keys to Sakura and wrote the address of his home on a piece of paper. He placed a few bills on the table and rushed out of the door with his jacket, without saying goodbye to Michio.

Fifteen minutes after Shin left, Michio's friend came running to Sakura with a worried face.

"Michio's Mommy! Michio got hurt when he came off of the slide!" The little girl quickly led Sakura into the playground, where all of the children gathered around a crying Michio. Sakura pushed through the children.

"Michio, honey, show me where you're hurt," she asked as she gently smoothed out his hair.

Michio showed her his scraped knees while sobbing. Sakura gave them a quick look and then picked up the child in her arms to take him out of the playground. "You kids can go back and play. I will treat Michio's wounds first."

She placed the child on the bench in their car table and rubbed a bit of alcohol on his knees as gently as possible. "Does it sting?" she gazed up at Michio.

"No," the child bit back the pain and replied.

Slowly, she pulled out two band-aids from the package and placed them on his wounds. When she was done, she wiped his tears away with her fingers. "You're just like your Daddy. You have to be careful next time, okay?"

Michio bobbed his head up and down a few times. "Thank you, Mommy."

"Now, do you want to go back and play with your friends, or do you want to go home?"

"But if I go home, will I have to say bye bye to Mommy?" Michio asked sadly.

Sakura smiled at the innocent child. "Your Daddy went back to the hospital, so I will be taking care of you tonight."

Michio gave a huge grin and clapped his hands in joy as if Sakura had just told him that she was going to take him to Disney World.

Sakura told him to stay put while she went outside to get a cab. Once she left the restaurant, she realized that it had been raining for awhile. In fact, it was more like a thunder storm than just rain. All of the drivers sped down the road, without a care in the world, trying to get to their destination before the thunder storm worsened. After waiting there for 15 minutes, she finally got a cab and asked for the driver to wait for her while she went to get Michio.

She ran back into the restaurant and found Michio sleeping soundly on the bench.

"Michio, Mommy got a cab for us. Let's go," she whispered into his ears and gently shaking the small body awake. The child groaned in annoyance and didn't want to wake up.

Having no choice, she swung her bag over her shoulder and picked up the heavy child in her arms, and rushed out of the door.

When she reached the cab again, she saw an old lady with a walking stick standing beside the driver's window, asking if his cab was available. Sakura immediately paced towards the lady and offered the lady her cab.

"Are you sure, young lady?" the woman asked in a husky voice, uncertainly. She glanced at Michio and then at Sakura again. "Is this child sick? If so, take him to the hospital. I can wait for another cab."

Sakura shook her head quickly. "No, no. The child is just sleeping. Please just get into the cab."

The old lady gave an appreciated smile. "God bless you and your child, young lady."

With that, she entered the cab and waved at Sakura as she was driven off.

Sakura sighed as she waited under the canopy for another cab to appear. As Michio began to feel heavier in her arms, she knew that she had been standing there for a long time. She decided it would better to leave the child inside while she got a cab because she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold onto him.

As Sakura began to walk into the restaurant, a person's voice called out from behind. "Get into the car, Xiao Ying. We'll give you a ride."

It was Ruo Xi who called from her car. Beside her, she saw Syaoran looking straight at the road, without caring about her the least bit.

"Come on, I've seen you standing there for a long time!" she called out with genuine concern. Sakura knew she meant well, but she still wasn't sure if Ruo Xi treated her as a friend or a foe.

It was the weight of Michio that made her give in. She opened the back door and slowly placed Michio beside the large teddy bear that Syaoran had gotten for Ruo Xi. She climbed into the car right after him and closed the car door beside her.

"If Xiao Lang is taking up too much space, I'll toss him into the back trunk," Ruo Xi said, pointing at the huge bear.

Sakura shook her head. "No it's not. Thank you for the ride." Although she should have been thanking Syaoran, the driver, she said it to Ruo Xi instead because she couldn't bring herself to speak to Syaoran directly after what happened yesterday.

"Where are you going now?" Ruo Xi asked. Sakura quickly searched for the note that Shin had copied down inside her bag and handed it to Ruo Xi. "I'm going to this place."

Ruo Xi handed the note to Syaoran. He took out his Phone and entered the address in for GPS navigation.

As he was entering the address, Ruo Xi questioned, "Where is your boyfriend?"

The entire car fell silent, even the sound from Syaoran's typing stopped. All they could hear was Michio's soft breathing.

"H-He got an on-call, so he had to leave for the hospital," Sakura replied, feeling nervous for an unknown reason. She didn't know what Ruo Xi's intention was, although Ruo Xi sounded like she was just curious about the whereabouts of Shin.

"So, you're taking the child home?" Ruo Xi continued to pose questions, being oblivious to the awkwardness in the car.

"Yeah," Sakura said.

All of a sudden, Syaoran pressed down on the petal so hard that all of the passengers in the seat were pushed back against their seats.

"你在干嘛？" (What the hell are you doing?) Ruo Xi exclaimed in surprise.

"没事，只是想测试一下他的加速," (Nothing, I just wanted to test how well this car accelerates) Syaoran smiled at her sweetly. He was acting weird in the car, just as how he had acted when they were eating in the restaurant.

During the rest of the car ride, Sakura kept her eyes glued on the rain and the buildings passing by outside of the car, while Ruo Xi and Syaoran were just talking privately in Chinese. She silently massaged her sore arms at the same time.

"记得带一份礼物回来给我哦," (Remember to bring me back a gift from the States).

"我是去工作，并不是去玩若希" (I'm going there for work, not for vacation, Ruo Xi).

"你好讨厌哦。要你带一份礼物回来你会死吗？" (I hate you. Will you die if you just bring one gift back for me?).

Syaoran stretched his arm across the seat and pinched Ruo Xi's cheek as he replied, "会啊." (I will).

Ruo Xi pulled her face out of his grasp and glared at him. "You piece of shit." Syaoran laughed at the expression on her face.

Although Sakura kept her eyes occupied by the view outside, she couldn't help but notice what was going on in the front of the car through the corner of her eye. She wished that she had never gotten inside the car.

As the car came to a halt, Sakura peeked out to find herself in front of a twenty-floor high-rise condo. She hoped that she was brought to the right place because she had never been to Shin's house before.

"This is it, right?" Ruo Xi turned back and asked Sakura.

Sakura shrugged. "I think so."

"You've never been to his place?" Ruo Xi asked, somewhat surprised.

Sakura shook her head. She noticed that Syaoran was quietly sitting in his seat and looking out the window again. Sakura thought that he probably couldn't wait until she got out of the car.

"Thank you for driving us," she thanked Ruo Xi, while unbuckling her seat belt.

"Michio, wake up. We're home." Sakura attempted to wake the child up but to no avail. She hoped that he would listen to her because her arms were so sore that she didn't think she could carry him up to the tenth floor.

The sky had cleared when Sakura came out of the car. She then picked up the kid and brought him out of the car as well.

"Xiao Ying, are you sure you can't come to our party?" Ruo Xi rolled down her window and asked.

She didn't know why Ruo Xi always brought up her engagement with Syaoran. Did she want to share the good news with a friend or was she trying to remind Sakura that she had lost a great man. No matter what her real intentions were, every time the word "engagement" was brought up, Sakura felt suffocated and a new round of tears tried to break free inside of her.

Sakura shook her head. "His dad won't be back until tomorrow morning. I will be staying here tonight to look after him."

"Okay, see you soon," Ruo Xi said, feeling a bit disappointed. She was unaware of Sakura's struggle to steady herself on the ground.

"Bye." All she wanted to do was get away from those two and quickly take Michio home.

As she walked towards the entrance of the building, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Unexpectedly, the person turned out to be Syaoran. "I'll help you carry him up." He talked to him in the same emotionless voice as he had used last night. The voice he used towards her was also the complete opposite of the one he had used towards his fiancée when the three of them were in the car.

Making direct eye contact with him made her want to cry. She pushed back her tears for the whatever-number of times that day.

"It's okay, I don't need your help," Sakura replied in a tone as if she were annoyed by his interference.

"I don't care if you don't need my help. I am only here because my fiancée has asked me to take this kid up for you."

Sakura looked past him and into the car, but she couldn't see Ruo Xi's face for confirmation. She wondered why Ruo Xi didn't call out from the car window about sending Syaoran to help her.

Sakura handed Michio over to him with uncertainty because she remembered that back then, he already developed a strong dislike for the child. So it made sense if he planned on dropping the kid now that his animosity was on an entirely different level.

"I won't do stupid things to a kid that has nothing to do with me, but for sure your arms will before you reach his home," he told her as if he could read her mind. Even now, Sakura thought, he had the ability to read her face. He waited for her to look for the keys to open the front door.

When it opened, he carried Michio effortlessly towards the elevator.

_How does he know my arms are sore? _She asked herself as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

Their trip from the lobby to the tenth floor was in silence. Once they stepped out of the elevator, it was Sakura's turn to lead the way to the correct home. Behind her he heard Syaoran talking on the phone with someone in Chinese. After she made a turn down the corridor, she found Michio's home, 104.

The phone call was quick and short. Sakura unlocked the door and turned to take Michio back from Syaoran.

"I need you to be my translator for my one-week business trip in NYC," he spoke to her with seriousness, while still holding onto the child.

Sakura thought she didn't hear properly, so she asked for a repeat.

"My translator had to take care of her kid so she won't be able to come with me. I need an English interpreter for tomorrow, and you are the only one who can travel to the states without a visa," he explained.

"And why do I have to help you?" Sakura asked in that same irritated voice in which she was slowly getting used to pretend.

"Because you, Kinomoto Sakura," he said, while smiling dangerously, "you owe me close to $1 million for breaking the contract that you had signed for the magazine photo shoot. If it weren't for me, you would be in jail right now."

The keys from Sakura's hands dropped on the floor with a loud cling.

* * *

"It's hard to believe that you out of all people surrendered to fate," Linda Hamasaki said, looking through the glass of her martini.

Although she wasn't drunk, unlike Chou Jin who was sleeping like the dead on the stool beside Syaoran, her words were incoherent to Syaoran. The three of them decided to have some drinks together after the party. All of the guests left and Syaoran told Ruo Xi to go back to the hotel first, as well.

"Huh?" Syaoran asked, his fingers spinning around his car key.

"All those rich second-generation bastards were waiting for the day when you cancel your engagement to Ruo Xi," Linda explained.

"Oh."

"They looked up to you when you rebelled against the norm, but after today, you'll be on the bottom of their list."

"I don't remember being involved in a 'rebellion'," Syaoran said with humour. Then, he mouthed 'one more' to the bartender.

"You know what I mean. You escaping to Japan to become an actor, you running away from your parents in Hong Kong, you dating girls who were against your parents' wishes…All of these things made you a rebel in the upper class world. And you became a legend. But now, just like everyone else, you surrender to fate by agreeing to marry a girl who you don't even love."

Syaoran was able to become best friends with Linda Hamasaki after their relationship as lovers didn't work out because her personality and way of thinking was too similar to his. Other times, they got along just fine, however, under the spell of alcohol, she was being sentimental and it made Syaoran feel a little bit uncomfortable around her.

"How do you know I don't love Ruo Xi," he asked defensively. If he had to be honest with himself, though, he knew what Linda said wasn't far from the truth.

"Because of the way you act around her. It's different from how you acted around Sakura."

Hearing Sakura's name suddenly made him tense up. "Don't mention her name. How I act around one woman shouldn't be used to make comparisons with the other women I date."

"Fine, I won't mention her. But seriously, Syaoran, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with a woman that you have no feelings for?"

_Conversation to be continued…_

* * *

**Valkyrie85: **And that's the end of the chapter! Tell me your thoughts and also tell me if you think Syaoran still likes Sakura xp

REMEMBER TO REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	26. Chapter 26

Val: Hello! These past months were the hardest for me because I couldn't continue writing the story after I re-read the previous chapters and found them to be ridiculously bad. I really thought about giving up on this story, but then I decided not to because the story was just 2 or 3 chapters away from the ending. One other important reason for not giving up was because you have all been so supportive and I think it's not right that after all of the months you have waited, you won't be able to read the ending. Truly, I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting such a crappy story. Reading some of your reviews always inspire me to do better but at the same time make me feel bad that I can't improve myself. Anyways, here's what I've managed to write during my 'meltdown' LOLL. This is only part of chapter 26, so when you receive another alert for chap 26, be sure to check it out!

* * *

**Chapter 26**

"But seriously, Syaoran, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with someone who you have no feeling for?" Linda looked into Syaoran's eyes deeply, all hints of drunkenness erased from her face.

Syaoran avoided her gaze and took a sip from his glass.

"Why not? We get along just fine." He didn't even try to deny that he had no feelings for Ruo Xi.

Linda sighed at her friend's denseness. Why was his brain able to click so quickly when it was related to money but his brain never budged to turn when it was related to his romantic relationships, she asked herself mentally. Not many people believed in this weakness of his considering that he was once notoriously known as a playboy in the entertainment industry throughout Asia.

"Getting along only goes so far Syaoran. You and her will be 'spouses' not 'friends.' Getting along may help you stay close to your friends your entire life but it will not lead to a happy marriage. Trust me you will regret your decision later on in life."

"As my friend, shouldn't you be encouraging me for the decision that I made to finally get married, sweetheart?" Syaoran said in a mocking tone. It was his own tactic to change the direction that their conversation was heading. "But now you're doing everything but that."

"You have no idea how good of a friend I am for telling you these things. I was just like you when I married Kenji. I never sorted out my own feelings and thought that I liked him. But after I married him I figured that all along I was forcing myself to love him so that I could live up to the expectations of my fans, friends, and family."

Syaoran raised his eyebrow at Linda's sudden confession. Although he was one of the few people who learned about her divorce with her then-husband, Kenji-a self-made Japanese millionaire-before the news was released to the press and the rest of the world, Syaoran never recalled Linda telling him the exact reasons behind her divorce.

"I was under a lot of pressure, you know? Everywhere I went and every news article I read about myself fans were considerate enough to write out an entire process for how my life was supposed to play out as if I were some character in their book. From the age of when I should get married to the location of my retirement home, they didn't leave out a single bit of detail."

Syaoran quickly cut in, "I remember Hikari showing me one of your community forums a few years back. Most of them were so exaggerated, but the ones they wrote for me weren't any better though."

"Of course those were their way of showing love for me," Linda continued as if Syaoran hadn't spoken, "and I wasn't obliged to follow their fantasies, but I was a coward back then. I was afraid that if my life didn't turn out closely similar to the description in their plans, the career and image I'd spent so many years trying to build up would slowly disappear."

"So I grabbed the first opportunity I got when I met Kenji. At first I thought I loved him but then I realized I was simply rushing through everything without taking care of my own feelings first. I discovered the real passion I had for modeling and the reluctance to get married at 27, so I divorced him."

Syaoran saw a proud smile on Linda's beautiful face, which faltered as Syaoran allowed the words he had been holding back to leave his mouth.

"But that decision came with a price."

There was no need for him to expand on the 'price' because both of them knew very well what it was. Being a rather influential member of the society in Japan, Kenji made sure Linda paid for the embarrassment which she had caused him and his family due to the divorce. He made sure to contact all of the friends he knew who worked in the public relations offices and news networks to tarnish the beautiful Goddess image Linda worked hard to achieve in the ten years that she'd been working as a top model.

The rumors that were spread about her, such as committing infidelity during her marriage to Kenji and inability to conceive due to previous abortions, were enough to send her to Hell in less than 4 days. A dozen of contracts she signed with various companies and exclusive event invitations were immediately ended and taken back. Her agency was thrown into a turmoil and she was told to leave the country to hide from the press.

Just when the news got so big that it received international attention, Syaoran stepped in. No one's influence was even close to that of Syaoran's as he was the head of the biggest and most powerful business empire in Asia. With just one phone call to Japan, all of the news network had a one-hour blackout and the next time they broadcasted from their stations, they reported on Kenji and revealed enough of his dirty business secrets (some of which were obviously fabricated by Syaoran) to make his relatively small corporation go bankrupt the very next day. Syaoran also demanded that the press each release an apology statement to Linda and her agency to the public so that her name could be cleared.

Although the scandal was finally cleared up, Linda did not get back most of her contracts because they didn't want to risk another round of Linda-related rumor that would affect the sales of their company. Instead of going back to her old job as a runway model, Linda decided that it was time for her to do something else with her modeling passion and years of experience. At last, she chose to open the first ever celebrity-run modeling school. And now, her school was going in the right track.

"Yes it did," Linda agreed. "But it was a price that I was willing to pay for. Even if you didn't help me and I had to live the rest of my life accused of all those things I am willing to because I don't have to look at that jerk everyday. "

Syaoran admired her determination and the sureness in what she wanted. He almost felt jealous that she didn't really lose much in the end in order to have a happily ever after. And, she simply tossed away her fame and reputation without suffering from any serious consequences. On the other hand, if he were to do the same-resigning from his CEO position and rejecting the taking over of the Li Empire once his mother retired-he was sure there would be nothing but chaos, with thousands of people out of jobs and possibly a last-blow heart attack to send his mother to the other world, and finally a title granted to him as the 'last of the Li Clan that destroyed everything'.

He shuddered at the thought. He asked himself what was the point in even thinking about abandoning what was destined to be his before he even existed in this world. At least Linda threw everything away in order to pursue her dream. He had no reason to leave his business behind him, well, at least, not anymore.

Linda said, "So my purpose for telling you all that is because I don't want to see you sacrifice your happiness for the bad decisions that you make, especially the ones that are made in order to live up to people's expectations."

Syaoran could only nod because he knew that Linda would not stop with her lesson unless he somehow agreed with her.

Just when he thought she was finished, he heard her add, "And that's why you need to find out exactly what happened to Sakura."

Syaoran shot her a look. He rose from his seat abruptly and shoved back his stool, showing her that he was unhappy with her. He had warned Linda before that he did not want to talk about Sakura, but Linda didn't listen. Being reminded by someone that his previous girlfriend had abandoned him was not a very nice experience. If she was going to talk about her, he didn't want to stay anymore.

Linda quickly grabbed onto his wrist to stop him from leaving. "Syaoran, you and I both know that she's not that type of person!" Her voice lost a bit of control as she told him because she was still stunned by Syaoran's sudden reaction.

Syaoran pulled away while responding, "Linda, she clearly told me that she played with me on purpose. What more do I need to know? If you really are my friend, do me a favor and stop mentioning that name. My future wife won't like that you keep on talking about my ex-girlfriend."

Linda watched Syaoran as he was unable to meet her eyes. "I say you don't really believe what Sakura told you. You're just forcing yourself to believe her words because you're scared that once you learn about the truth, you'll want to abandon all of your responsibilities in order to be with her."

Linda waited impatiently for Syaoran's response. After a few seconds, Syaoran answered in a cool tone, much to Linda's disappointment.

He turned his face towards her and said, "You're right, I know she's been telling a lie."

Then he shrugged his shoulders. "But unlike what you said, I'm not 'afraid' to learn about the truth."

Linda rolled her eyes conspicuously, but Syaoran ignored her.

"I'm not afraid because I'm simply not interested in the truth. Anything that's related to her is no longer relevant to my life."

Although his expression was collected, and his tone was almost tenderly truthful, Linda saw hurt and anger in his eyes. "Don't you want to know why she left you so suddenly and what she did after she disappeared? How could you throw away your love for her that quickly Syaoran?! " Linda felt a surge of frustration rising in her as she unintentionally shoved back her stool, which made a loud clank on the marble floor. Her move was so abrupt that even the bartender jumped a little on the other side of the counter.

"Why are you being irrational? You clearly know that Sakura is acting out of character but you don't even bother finding out why. I really don't understand why you're being an idiot right now because you're just standing on the sideline watching her slowly drifting away from you. And don't tell me you don't care because I know you do..."

"Linda," Syaoran called in a soft voice to get her attention.

"Asking her is not going to kill you, will it? Sakura was such a sweet girl when I met her. How could you forget the time that the two of you spent together..."

"Linda," Syaoran called again in a louder voice. He wondered why he was feeling tired all of a sudden as his friend continued her ranting.

"Maybe she had her own trouble that she couldn't tell anyone and she didn't want you to worry so she left Japan for awhile. Maybe one of her family members was sick so she had to leave. There are so many possibilities..."

"LINDA!" Finally, Syaoran had to shout to get Linda's attention. She looked stunned and dazed as if she had just been woken up from her dream. As she glanced at Syaoran, she realized that she was actually quite out of breath from her talking.

"Look, I know you're trying to help but my relationship with her is long over starting from the day she left without a word. It might seem like I'm a child or an immature bastard but no one has ever thought about how I felt then. I gave her everything, everything I had and everything I could give, and in return she left me without a word. This is the part that breaks my heart the most because even after she returns, she tells me all types of bullshit instead of the truth to why she left in the first place. You know how that makes me feel? It makes me feel valueless and betrayed. I repeatedly ask myself why did I fall in love with a woman who never put me as her priority or even bothered wasting two minutes of her life to think about me.

"If she had trusted me and loved me, then she should have told me about her problems so we could face the problems together. If she had put me as her priority, then she wouldn't have left to do whatever she had to accomplish for one and a half year without saying goodbye. If you were in my shoe, you would understand how I feel Linda. So when you ask me why I'm being unreasonable and irrational, this is my answer to you. I have no interest in wasting even two minutes of my life to listen to her reason just like how she couldn't waste two minutes of her life to consider my feelings."

Without waiting for a response, he left for the back door.

"Call Jin's manager to pick him up. I have an early flight tomorrow to the States. I'll see you when I get back," he called back casually, as if his confession had not taken place.

Speechlessly, Linda watched the door closing slowly on its own.

* * *

"...And that's how the warrior of Kingdom Burlington became the King..."

Sakura gazed down at a sleeping Michio as she softly closed the story book on her lap. Sakura climbed out of his bed and fixed his blanket before tippy-toeing out to the living room in Shin's apartment.

Shin had called in earlier, apologizing for the extension of his on-call, so Sakura had to stay at his place tonight in order to take care of Michio. Since it was only 9:30, Sakura decided to watch an hour or two of TV before going to bed.

She surfed through the channels absentmindedly and stopped when something on the screen caught her attention. It was an entertainment news report on Linda's recent scandal. During Sakura's time away from Japan, she cut off all ties with everything that reminded her of Syaoran, including his friends. So when she saw the documentary-like video about Linda and her supposed 'Abortion' scandal, she felt absolutely dumbfounded.

She turned up the volume and watched as her curiosity got the better of her.

The report talked about Linda's beautiful wedding, the first few months of her married life, the rumors that spread around about her 'baby bump.' Then slowly, the report started going into the ugly details that led to Linda's life going downhill. Finally, with the super man theme song as the background music, the report talked about Syaoran's involvement that led to Linda' happily ever after.

Sakura smiled inwardly as the show went on a commercial break. She felt very happy that Linda overcame her troubles with Syaoran's help. She couldn't help but feel proud of Syaoran for taking action, even if it was at the last minute.

It was the mentioning of her name that brought her attention back to the show. "Kinomoto Sakura, the ex-girlfriend or, as some insiders claimed, the ex-fiancee, of Li Syaoran is the woman who brings Li Syaoran to the number 1 position on Scandalous Countdown."

The report went into excruciating details about the times when Sakura and Syaoran were out at public events. As the reporter informed the viewers, there was a slideshow of clips at red carpets and pictures of the two of them together.

When Syaoran's presence became too overwhelming in the pictures, she turned away to evade his piercing gazes through the TV screen. She could have switched the channel to ease her discomfort, but something inside of her prevented her from doing so.

"Reportedly, Syaoran proposed to Sakura at the wedding dress shop where they were supposed to choose a few outfits for their photo shoot later that day. However what should have been a celebratory day for the couple turned into a disastrous one when Sakura ran out of the shop suddenly and got hit by a passing car. Insiders revealed that Sakura had a change of heart during his proposal because she felt that she wasn't ready to handle the burden as the future wife of the famous actor. The entire week after Sakura's unfortunate accident, Syaoran remained tight-lipped about the details regarding his girlfriend's health. Even on the most important night of his life, at the Asia's International Film Festival, where he was nominated as the Actor of the Year and the Actor of the Decade, his then-girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. News had circulated at that time that either Sakura had ran away in order to hide from Syaoran because she didn't want to marry him or she was still in a life-threatening condition due to the post-crash trauma. Netizens conducted a poll online and about 85% of the 450,000 people who participated in the vote expressed that they believed it was reason number 1."

"The mysterious absence of Sakura wan't the only factor that made Syaoran's life scandalous. During the Actor of the Decade nominee listing, which was the last one at the event, Syaoran received a text message and after reading it in less than 2 seconds, he rudely ran out of the Codex theatre. The paparazzi that lost him during their car chase said that he looked frantic but at the same time joyed as he rushed into a cab. That night, he lost not only one but two of his awards for his rude behavior and unprofessionalism."

"The reason behind his abrupt departure from the ceremony and his destination on that night will forever remain a mystery."

Sakura pulled her legs up on the sofa and wrapped her arms around them tightly. Her body shook vigorously as she recalled the memories from the wedding dress shop and the car accident.

"I'm sorry Syaoran..."she cried softly. "I was the one that made you lose those awards..."

* * *

After the airport staff approached Syaoran to tell him about the arrival of his private jet, Syaoran packed his laptop and a few files into his carry-on bag and followed the staff towards his pick-up area.

He looked back at the table where he was sitting to check if he forgot anything important on the seats. Luckily, he didn't. While he turned his gaze by to the front, he noticed a tall female figure with a carry-on bag running towards the entrance of the VIP lounge.

The entrance guard outstretched her arm to keep the intruder away, while the female pulled out her boarding pass and showed her that she must board her plane immediately. Realizing that it was Sakura, Syaoran walked back to the entrance and told the guard that Sakura was with him.

"I'm sorry that I'm late. I stayed over at my friend's house and-" Sakura tried, breathlessly, to explain once she was allowed entrance but Syaoran coldly cut her off.

"I'm not interested in your personal matter. You're lucky that my plane arrived later than the scheduled time. But in the future, I hope you will not make this kind of mistake again."

Syaoran's strict and unfriendly tone was hard to get used to, but Sakura still nodded her head. It was, after all, her fault. And he was, starting from today, her 'boss.'

The two of them were guided towards their plane. Walking in front of Sakura, Syaoran released a soft sigh of relief. He thought that she was not going to come after not giving him a proper confirmation the day before and not showing up this morning at their meeting place at 7:45. Although she was late, he was glad that she showed up because she was the only one who he could count on to act as his English/Japanese translator for the week.

Before Sakura entered the plane, she had expected that she and Syaoran would be the only passengers riding the plane for the next 13 hours. Just the thought of the two of them being together alone for such a long period of time made Sakura uncomfortable and a bit suspected that soon, she would have to take her medication.

Luckily when she boarded the jet, there were already 8 other people who were dressed in professional suits seated in the seats comfortably. Those people were Syaoran's employees who flew from Hong Kong in order to meet Syaoran here. There were also 4 crew members neatly dressed in their blue and white uniform lining up along the corridor to welcome Syaoran and Sakura in.

Even though Sakura did not know anyone else on the plane except for Syaoran, she instantly felt her muscles and jaw relax, knowing that she would not be alone with him.

Syaoran pointed at an empty seat and told Sakura in Japanese that she could rest there for a bit, before walking over to the other people to talk to them in Mandarin. As she watched him take his seat on the other side of the plane, she also noticed a few of the others staring at her in fascination.

One of the crew members, named Trine, came over to Sakura and offered to serve her a snack and a drink from the menu in surprisingly fluent Japanese. She had dyed blond hair that reached her shoulders and she had the most perfect white teeth that came in second after Syaoran's.

She was in her early 30s and was extremely friendly so they got along well. While Syaoran and his employees gathered around a round table for their meeting, Sakura socialized with Trine and the other crew members freely. She was thankful that none of them seemed to recognize her or remember her as one of Syaoran's old flings.

About an hour after flying in the air, Syaoran called Sakura over to his seat. He introduced Sakura to his employees in Mandarin and then introduced the others to Sakura in Japanese. Except for two people in their mid-40s, the rest of the staff were comprised of people between the 20s and the 30s.

"Hi, nice to meet you all," was the only thing she could say in English at the moment as she felt all of their attention on her. She had a feeling that some of them, unlike the crew members, knew who she was and hoped that they wouldn't go to her later on to bombard her with questions related to her past. At that moment, she suddenly wondered to herself if Syaoran felt discomfortable for involving himself with her again, under the scrutinizing watch of his employees. Wasn't he afraid that a rumor might start to spread because of her and cause misunderstandings between him and Ruo Xi? Judging by the way Syaoran was treating Sakura, Sakura convinced herself that he wasn't afraid of anything.

Fortunately they had enough self-control and professionalism to let their curiosity pass. They greeted her back in not-so-fluent English and some offered to shake hands with her.

"He's Wil, the director of marketing at Li Corp.," Syaoran introduced Wil, a good-looking man in his late 20s to Sakura. "Aside from me, he's the only other person who could speak English well. If you have any questions, you could go to him."

Wil and Sakura exchanged smiles politely as Syaoran introduced two other women to her. "This is Jie and Wen. They are just like you, the assistants and translators for this trip. Jie is an interpreter for Spanish and Wen is an interpreter for French. They will quickly go over your responsibilities and Wil will do the translations for you."

Following Syaoran's instructions, Wil, Jie, and Wen took the seats of the crew members' and slowly began their translations.

After that, Syaoran returned to his meeting with the others and never spoke to Sakura again.

* * *

They arrived at their hotel in Manhattan at around 10:00 in the evening. Syaoran ordered room service in his suite and called all of the employees over to enjoy some late night snacks. Once they were finished, Syaoran told them to have a good night's rest to reenergize their bodies for tomorrow's conference. And then, they each left for their own rooms down the hall.

That night, Sakura had a dream about the day of the accident again. She woke up to find herself covered in cold sweat. She couldn't return to sleep because the darkness in her room frightened her, so she grabbed a light sweater with her and left the room.

Down the hall, she noticed that the glass doors to the balcony were open. She began making her way there, hoping that some cool fresh air could calm her thoughts.

"...I know Ruo Xi. But I won't be free until the very last day. I know, I know. Okay bye."

She halted in her steps immediately when she heard Syaoran's voice coming from the balcony. Then as if she had lost control over her body, her legs began to carry her forward towards the balcony again.

"You came out for some fresh air?" he saw her and asked in slight shock as he was about to leave. The warmth in his voice that she'd heard earlier while he was on the phone disappeared. She realized that he had asked her the question to acknowledge her presence but not because he was concerned.

"Yeah," she replied simply, acting as if she were unaffected by his presence.

Syaoran paused and then looked away and said, "See you tomorrow, then."

"See you."

Without saying anything more Syaoran went back to his suite, leaving Sakura all alone in the empty corridor.

Slowly, she stepped out to the balcony and allowed her tears to roll down her cheeks.

* * *

**Valkyrie85**: Thank you very much for patiently waiting for part two. Also thanks a bunch to those who reviewed/private messaged me to cheer me up. I will definitely finish writing the story regardless of how bad I think it is. So please continue reading it till the very end!

Now a little bit about the plot...

Syaoran tells Linda that he has no interest in learning about the 'truth.' But does he really not care or is he just holding a grudge against Sakura? On the other hand, Sakura seems to have become emotionally weaker than before. What is the cause behind this sudden change? Perhaps she's starting to regret over leaving Syaoran? Or maybe it's just a side effect from the recovery of her memory? At this point neither of them plan on making the first move. If someone doesn't take action soon, the two of them may never have the chance to get back together!


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27 **

When she heard the doorbell ring, Sakura ran out of the bathroom to get the door with the toothbrush still in her hand.

"G-good morning," she greeted Wil, the young Director of Marketing of Li Corporation, who was standing before her with two large bags in his hand. She quickly returned to the bathroom, rinsed her mouth with water, and then went back to the door, feeling flushed due to her messy state.

Wil smiled kindly and responded in a light tone. "Good morning, Sakura. I came to give you this for today's meeting." He handed her the pink bags.

Sakura took a glimpse through the tissue papers with curiosity. "What's this?"

" told me to get some change of clothes for you because he said that you didn't have time to prepare any professional attire for this trip," he told her.

Sakura slowly pushed away the tissue papers and reached into the bag for the clothes. She pulled out two blazers, two pairs of black slacks, two pairs of heels, and 4 dress shirts in various colours. When she looked in the other bag, she saw a stylish handbag to carry her laptop and files.

As Sakura stood there looking at the items she just pulled out in a daze, Wil mistook her expression and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry if you've found something that you don't like. I just got what I was told to get."

Sakura shook her head quickly. "No, no. They are perfect, thank you. I…I'm just a bit tired because I didn't get much sleep last night."

She half-lied. Yes, she was tired from last night because she wasn't able to go back to sleep after she returned to her bedroom. However, it was also the items from the bag that disturbed her and made her show such an expression. Seeing that all the items were in her size and of her taste, she suddenly began to feel confused and tightness in her chest.

Wil nodded his head in understanding. "Well, I'll see you down in the breakfast lounge in a bit. I have to go talk to about something."

Sakura waved goodbye to him as he made his way to Syaoran's room.

After she closed the door, she stood there and stared at the clothes in her hands. Suddenly, a flashback played inside her head. It was one when Syaoran had to go out to the mall early in the morning to buy her a change of clothes because she had puked all over herself the night before in Syaoran's apartment. That day, he returned home with a floral dress, much to Sakura's surprise because it suited her so well that she ended up wearing it very often whenever they went out together.

* * *

The purpose of Li Corporation's trip to the States was to look for an expansion partnership. For many, many years, the enterprise stood the test of time and remained as Asia's number one Business Empire. Even during the years of economic downturn, it still kept its rightful place. Regardless of all the status and prosperity, Li Corporation never wanted to expand its business empire into the Western world because its previous leaders did not want to take risks. Now that Syaoran, who grew up in the States and developed many important connections along the way, became the new leader, he was willingly to take all the risks to expand his company.

The goal wasn't hard to accomplish because everyone in the Western world wanted to get a piece of this Asian Giant. All Li Corporation had to do was to visit some of the top corporations in the country with the highest potential for partnership and decide with which they want to sign a business deal.

For the first four days of the trip, Sakura followed Syaoran and the representatives of the corporation to several different companies. They attended presentations and she took notes in English while also translating to her colleagues. Although she was one of Syaoran's secretaries and had to follow him wherever he went, she did not talk to him and he did not talk to her unless it was for their work. However even when he had something to say to Sakura, he did not say it directly to her. He often told his secretary to pass down his messages. Sakura had no problem with that. In fact, she was more than happy that she didn't have to talk to him. She made sure to keep a distance between them, while Syaoran, well…she had no clue what was on his mind because she could not understand his blank expressions.

Sakura played her part well. She updated her notes onto the laptop every night and organized them well so that by the end of the trip, she was able send the entire copy to the assistant who she had replaced to be here. It was then that assistant's job to translate all of the notes that Sakura took into Chinese so that the others at Li Corp. can use them.

When the group was not visiting the other enterprises, it joined together in Syaoran's suite for meetings. Sakura did not join these meetings because as an unofficial employee of Li Corp., she was not allowed to listen in on them unless she was told to do otherwise. At first this prohibition slightly saddened Sakura because it meant that Syaoran did not trust her, but then she began to let go of that feeling and learned to respect the rule. When she was called upon, she often served coffee to them and afterwards, left to do her own things.

On the fifth day, while they were having another one of their meetings, Syaoran received a phone call while Sakura was serving him tea. Surprisingly, he began to use Japanese instead of the usual Mandarin. "Yes, I'm in a meeting right now. You want to speak to her? Okay."

He then passed the phone to Sakura without looking at her. "Eriol wants to speak to you."

Sakura paused during the middle of placing a cup of coffee on the table. She looked at him and reached out for the phone uncertainly. "You may step out to make the phone call if you want to," he told her.

"No, it's okay," Sakura replied quickly. Once the phone was against her ear, she greeted Eriol and gave him the number of her hotel room. "You have it down? Okay, tell her to call this number."

In a little over than 5 seconds, Sakura returned the phone to Syaoran, finished serving the drinks and excused herself so she could go back to her room for the phone call.

Before she felt the door of his suite close behind her, she heard Syaoran's meeting-voice resuming as if nothing had happened.

As soon as she got back to her room, the phone began to ring. She rushed towards it and picked up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Sakura!" Tomoyo's voice cried out in some sort of anxious voice.

"Tomoyo! I thought you were actually going to go on ignore-the-world mode during your honeymoon?" she teased. A small smile formed on her face as she listened to the familiar voice of her best friend.

"I'm sorry! I had no more battery and I forgot to bring my phone charger to Hawaii so I had to look everywhere to find a place to charge my phone. And then when my phone was finally charged, I heard your voicemail…Are you alright…?"

Sakura sat down on her bed and shifted until she leaned comfortably against the backboard of her bed. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be alright?"

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with him. But why are you in New York with him and his workers? You only told me that you went to New York with him and his company representatives in the voicemail but you never explained why."

Sakura chewed on the inside of her cheeks. She didn't know whether to tell Tomoyo about the truth. But then she decided that there was no harm in telling the truth now. "Remember before I gained back my memory I was supposed to do a wedding photoshoot with him for a magazine? Well…that didn't happen because I ran away so the company sued Syaoran's agency for breaching the contract. They sued him again because I was his girlfriend back then and I was nowhere to be found. So he ended up paying for my and his violation fees an—"

"—so he forced you to work for him?" Tomoyo finished Sakura's sentence.

"Yeah and no…because his English interpreter called in sick the day before the trip and he couldn't get anyone else's visa ready within a few hours, so he asked me to help in exchange for the money he had paid then. He didn't force me, Tomoyo. He simply asked." Sakura asked herself why she defended Syaoran in front of Tomoyo.

"Why didn't you call me or my mom? If you had, I could have paid him back so he didn't have to force you!" Tomoyo exclaimed, obviously not believing Sakura's words.

Sakura sighed. "Thank you, Tomoyo, but really, I thought that if I helped him this once, I won't owe him anything more and I won't have to see him ever again. If you helped me, he will not be happy because he hates me so much right now that when he sees me suffer, it will give him some sort of satisfaction."

"…Sakura, he doesn't hate you." Tomoyo's voice changed to a soothing tone.

All of a sudden, their phone conversation turned from a slightly light-hearted atmosphere to one that was very melancholic.

"He does. I know he does. I would be if I were him."

"He doesn't hate you Sakura. You're the one who wants him to hate you." Tomoyo's last sentence caught Sakura by surprise. So she had seen through Sakura, after all.

"I deserve to be hated because I left him all by himself to fend the harsh changes in his life." Sakura's voice became unsteady as she neared the end of her words. Tomoyo knew Sakura was on the verge of tears.

"Listen, Sakura. You cannot think like that. What you went through was far worse than anyone could ever imagine or experience. What you went through was torture. You withdrew from this world when you remembered the past and you withdrew completely from him because he reminded you of the past. This was what you wanted, so I respected you and protected your secret from him. But I will not allow you to inflict more pain on yourself by purposely making him hate you."

There was silence. Then, there was soft sobbing. Tomoyo didn't say a word and simply whispered "Shhhh" to comfort her friend for a long time.

"It's okay, honey. Everything's going to be alright…shhh."

"I-I can't bear it anymore, Tomoyo. W-when I s-see him treat me like I'm invisible, it hurts me. When I hear him talk to me in that emotionless voice, it pains me. When I see him hold hands with Ruo Xi and feed her and talks to her on the phone, it really kills all of me…I-I sound pathetic right now I'm s-sorry…"

Sakura was never the type to be so honest about her feelings so when Tomoyo heard her words, she couldn't form a reply for a very long time.

"Don't be sorry. What you need to do right now is to let out all of your feelings. I want to know all of it, Sakura," Tomoyo encouraged her.

Sakura continued to weep softly.

"Sakura?"

No reply.

"Honey, tell me everything. Let it all out," Tomoyo encouraged.

No reply. This time, Tomoyo decided to wait quietly until Sakura was ready to talk.

"Teach me..." Sakura began weakly after a while, "teach me how to forget about him. Teach me how to control these feelings..."

"I'm sorry Sakura. I don't know how to. No one does. Only your heart knows what you really want."

Silence.

"You still love him. You need to tell him that you never stopped loving him."

"I'm scared Tomoyo. I don't want to have these kinds of feelings. I...killed my own mother because of childishness. I want to forget everything, want to live in a world where there's no pain. Why can't my heart just listen to me this once?!"

The sorrow in Sakura's voice was so strong that even through the phone, Tomoyo could begin to feel her own heart being pricked.

"Why, Sakura? Why are you punishing yourself like this? You didn't kill her. It was an accident that could not have been prevented even if you weren't in the car... If your mom was still alive, she would be very very very upset that her one and only daughter is tormenting herself and giving up her love so she can keep on feeling remorseful for the rest of her life.

"You're wrong. If it weren't for me, she would have never gotten into the car that day. She got into the car because I begged her to drive me to the airport so I can see Syaoran off. Syaroan, someone who didn't even know my existence back then...I should have died with her why-"

This was when Sakura's whole body began to agitate on the bed and she started to recall images from the accident. Around her the four walls began to press in on her, leaving her no space to escape. She was losing it. She was falling into a dark and bottomless hole with no return. She visioned a sudden rush of darkness that enveloped her. She was lonely. She was guilty. She was hopeless. She felt it was the end of her as she droned out every sound around her.

"NO!NO! SAKURA! STOP THIS NONSENSE IMMEDIATELY! " Tomoyo screamed into the phone, sensing something dangerous happening to Sakura. She tried to call for Sakura's attention, but all she could hear was her mumbling softly to herself.

Then, she began to hear excruciating moaning from her friend. "Sakura! Sakura! Can you hear me?!"

Subconsciously, Sakura was able to depict the panic in Tomoyo's voice. She wanted to tell her that she was fine, but she couldn't. The darkness that was enveloping her was too much for her to handle. She tried her best to push it away, but it only seemed to hold onto her even tighter than before. Feeling helpless and scared, she wrapped her arms around her weak body and began to scream.

"hear me..."

"...call him..."

"...medication..."

"ALL OF YOU STAY OUT!"

Sakura knew she was becoming insane because she started hearing Syaoran's low voice buzzing intoher ears. It was his usual monotonous voice but with a certain edge to it. He sounded like he was shocked...furious...upset...worried...

"Are they in her bag?"

Sakura felt him leave the bed only to return two seconds later. She was pulled into his arms as he pushed two capsules in her mouth. Then he fed her water so she could swallow the antidepressants.

Sakura's body continued to shake against his as the darkness around her ceased to disperse.

"It's okay Sakura. I'm here. I won't leave you..." Syaoran whispered into her ears tentatively, answering to her self-talking. He pulled her to his lap and hugged her tightly, afraid of letting her go.

"It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault." Syaoran began rocking her back and forth while comforting her with his words of encouragement, although he had no idea what 'fault' she was moaning about.

He placed light kisses on her face hoping to bring her out of her trance and slowly and peacefully, she relaxed and drifted to sleep in his arms.

* * *

When Sakura woke up, it was during the middle of the night. She looked around her room, made visible by the small lamp beside her bed, and was thankful that she hadn't become insane from the earlier mental breakdown. Now to her, it had all seemed like a bad dream that got out of control. She began to recall how she had escaped that nightmare not too long ago.

From her memory, she remembered that Syaoran...Syaoran had come into her room, given her medication, and...held her in his arms until her emotions were tranquilized. She remembered falling to sleep in his warm arms, but after that, she didn't know what happened.

Then, she paused her thoughts. Had Syaoran really come to her room and held her and kissed her to sleep? She must have imagined it all because why would he, who she knew for certain no longer had feelings for her and hated her for what she had done to him, come to her during her time of need? How was it possible that he had spoken to her in the gentle and warm voice that she recalled from her memory? Everything that had made sense then now made no sense at all. So, she decided to believe that she had been dreaming the whole time, which explained why she woke up during the middle of the night and in her bed.

As she was immersed in her own thoughts, the door of her hotel room slowly creaked open. In walked Syaoran, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a white v-neck t-shirt, while holding tray with a large white bowl with steaming hot soup, a few slices of bread with butter on the side and a long glass filled with water.

Sakura lifted herself from the bed and blinked at Syaoran confusedly. Had she really become insane, she wondered. Syaoran returned her gaze as he approached the office desk without saying anything. With one hand, he dragged the chair from the table across the room and placed it beside Sakura's bed and sat down beside it.

He continued to look at her as he put the tray down on the night stand. "Are you hungry?" he asked her in a gentle voice, which was kinder than the voice he had used towards her starting from the first day they saw each other at Tomoyo's wedding but less gentle than the voice he'd used during her mental breakdown. Although they only saw each other under the dimmed light, Sakura could tell that he had that same cool exterior, with less harshness than the days before, but still no where compared to the warm one he had always shown her one and a half year ago.

"A little," she replied absent-mindedly. She realized that this was actually the first time that they were talking so closely to each other, with the exception of their "breakup" conversation at Tomoyo's wedding of course.

"I got you a bowl of soup and a few slices of bread from downstairs. I figured that you might not have an extremely big appetite during the middle of the night." He shifted from his seat and reached out to pull a pillow up against the backboard for Sakura to lean on. Then, he picked up the bowl and the spoon and handed it to Sakura.

"Thank you."

While she drank the soup, Syaoran quietly spread butter on the bread for her with a knife. Once he finished with one slice, he handed it to Sakura.

"Thank you," she said agin. The room went back to awkward silence again as both continued to spread and drink.

When Sakura finished eating, Syaoran rose from his chair and took the tray from with him to the desk. He came back a few seconds later with the glass of water and two more capsules for her medication. She paused as he handed her the medication, leaving his hand in mid-air.

"You're not going to take it?" he asked.

"I..." She hesitated some more but eventually took the capsules from him. She put them in her mouth and gulped down half of the water from the glass cup in order to swallow the medicine.

Once she finished, she fixed her gaze on the glass cup in her hand. She could feel him staring at her while the room returned to silence again.

"Aren't you going to ask me about what happened?" she asked him softly, referring to her mental breakdown.

"What happened?" Sakura could tell that he posed the question because she had asked him to do so.

"You're going to keep on doing this, won't you?" she asked, feeling irritated and upset that he showed no concern towards her whatsoever.

"Doing what?"

"Pretending like you care about me when you really don't. I would rather you just ignore me and hate me and pass by me without acknowledging my presence than you pretending like you don't hate me."

Silence.

"See? You know I'm right." Sakura knew she was acting like a bitch for picking on the things that didn't even make sense.

"If I hated you, would I be here during the middle of the night to deliver you food?" he replied.

"You...you..."

"Tomoyo told me everything, Sakura. The car crash, how your memories returned, your brother's threat, why you left me..." Syaoran paused. He was at a loss for words for the first time. "This is too much information for me in one day. I'm still trying to digest it all."

She look at him, not surprised that Tomoyo had told. "How do you feel right now?" she asked him gently, feeling a huge sigh of relief that everything that had been bottled up within her was released by Tomoyo.

"Confused, stupid, happy, and untrusted that you couldn't tell me about your troubles and had to go through those things all by yourself." He looked at her, a rush of emotions ran through both of them as they held each other's gaze for the longest time. A million messages were exchanged between them, so intimate and deep that if a third person were in the same room with them, he or she would have to look away.

Slowly, Sakura reached out towards him. She pulled him close to her and closing her eyes, she kissed him gently but deeply on his lips. It was probably the first time she initiated a kiss since the beginning of their relationship and both she and Syaoran were surprised.

Sakura nipped at his bottom lip. The familiar shape and softness of his lips as well as the smell of his cologne were enough to make her dizzy. Just as Syaoran began to kiss back, Sakura broke the kiss in a playful manner. She traced kisses on his forehead, his eyes, his nose, his hair. Through these kisses, she also traced back all the happy memories she had shared with him back then.

Syaoran moved up from his seat and laid Sakura down on her bed as he climbed on top of her. He looked down at her, eyes smiling in a way that made butterflies flutter in her stomach. He held onto her gaze as his fingers caressed the side of her face lovingly.

"I love you, Syaoran. I've always loved you and I think I always will," Sakura told him confidently. Shyness which she would definitely have felt before and which would have stopped her from verbally expressing these thoughts to him ceased to appear at the moment. Even the guilt towards her mother's death and Ruo Xi also came to a halt.

"And I love you too, Sakura. I loved you even before you were born into this world. I loved you back when I first met you in high school. And I loved you since the day I met you at Thousand Island. I don't think I will always love you because I am certain that I will always always always love you," he whispered to her before moving his lips down to hers.

They were overcome by such a strong affection that neither of them spared a moment to consider the consequences that would follow suit.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Hong Kong, Li Yelan, the President of the Li Empire and the cold-blooded mother of Li Syaoran, received a phone call from one of her subordinates who she had instructed to keep an eye on Syaoran while he went to the States.

"Yes?" she answered the phone call

* * *

in her signature emotionless voice.

"Lady Yelan, just entered Kinomoto Sakura's room with a tray of food. I believed they have reconciled," the voice reported.

"Thank you, Wil," Yelan said and hung up the phone.

It was cue for her to make the next move.

* * *

Valkyrie85: Thank you for coming back and reading the chapter! Two more to go and this story will officially be finished! Ahhh I think I'll be really sad when this story comes to a close cause I've been so attached to it for the last two years...I wonder how this story is going to turn out (funny that I'm asking this question eh? I just go along as I write, so I don't really know what's going to happen).

Judging from most of your reviews, it seemed like many of you were frustrated that SxS were not getting back together quick enough. So here you go! I had planned for the reconciliation to be put into this chapter long before you complained. The reason for the drag was simple, a story would be so excruciatingly boring if there werent any heartbreaks and sufferings (for both the characters and the readers...and maybe the writer) :p

Many of you said "I wish they would get back together like this...or i can't wait when Syaoran finds out about the truth...blah blah blah." these wishes made me drag the broken relationship even longer just because if they reconcile too quickly and in the same way that you guys have described, then this story would be too predictable. I would like my story to be very unpredictable. So be warned, right now it seems like the story will head towards a happy ending...but there's no guarantee!

Lastly, I would just like to inform you that after this story comes to a close, I will begin another story, which is already being planned as I speak. I've decided to name it "It's Always Been You". It will be a SxS story. I will give more information about the plot in the next chapter! Thanks for your support! And don't forget to review!


	28. Chapter 28

**Valkyrie85**: Some of you were disappointed that there wasn't a huge confrontation between Syaoran and Sakura in the previous chapter before they reconciled. In fact, one or two of you were so disappointed that you guys wanted me to rewrite the chapter. All I can say is I'm sorry that it didn't turn out to be the way you wanted it to be. Personally，I find it very unfitting to just rewrite something that I've posted already ，as it can make the story very awkward. Therefore, I will not answer to that request. However, improvements can definitely be made in this chapter to make it seem less rushed. Hopefully you will be satisfied with what I have written for this chapter :)

*this entire chapter was created on my phone. The formatting was also done on my phone. If there are any mistakes, please Pm me. Thanks.

**Chapter 28**

* * *

Flashback

"_请你们现在翻开我为你们准备的资料。＂ (Now please flip to page six in the package that I have prepared for you.) Syaoran told his colleagues. After Sakura left for her room to make the phone call, the group resumed their meeting in Syaoran's suite._

_His subordinates did as they were told._

_"第六页明显的反应了这间公司在零九年和银行借四亿美金的交易。＂ (It clearly states that in 2009, this corporation borrowed 400 million US dollars from the bank.)_

_＂到目前为止，这间公司还没有办法还那一笔账。试问如果我们昨天真的和他们签下协议的话，我们的公司即将会面临什么样的局面？＂(Even until now, they still haven't paid back what they owed. Not a single penny. At the same time, the loan keeps on growing bigger by the second because of the high interest rate of the bank. Now my question is, if we had signed that contract with this corporation yesterday, what kind of situation will our Company head into for the next 10 or 20 years? We would have signed a life-time contract to work our butts off in orders pay off someone else's debt.)_

_The 10 heads around the table looked up from the information they just read and exchanged looks with each other in complete shock._

_Syaoran paused, making the entire room dead silent, as he closed his own copy of the document in his hands. Then, he threw it across the table, causing a few of the staff to jump._

_"还有一个很重要的问题就是为什么在没有完整的调查这间公司的情况下，你们会把他列入我们的名单里。如果每次需要我自己去做这些调查的话，那你们就可以不用来上班了." (I have another question. Why was this corporation included in our list of potential partners if no thorough research was conducted on the company? If I have to do the research myself every time, then there's no point in me hiring you all.)._

_Syaoran paused again. His remark made the representatives, junior and senior members, look down at their hands in shame. He knew they were reflecting on their mistakes as he spoke._

_He spoke again, but this time he made sure his tone was no longer scolding. He pulled off an encouraging smile as he added. "但是因为我很需要大家的帮忙, 所以你们不能就这样走掉。你们应该认真的反省一下。以后我再也不希望看到这样的错误发生。＂(But because I really need and treasure all of your help and effort, I can't let you go. I hope you can all reflect on today's mistake and make sure it doesn't happen again.)_

_"我保证以后我们不会再有第二次。＂ （I promise a second time won't happen again). One of the senior members spoke up, on behalf of the rest of the representatives. The others nodded in agreement._

_＂很好。＂ （Very good), Syaoran replied._

_He called for a short break and went to the side of the room to make a call. His phone had been ringing during the entire discussion with his colleagues._

_As he took out the phone ready to dial back Eriol's number, it started ringing again in his hands._

_"Sorry, I was in-"_

_"Syaoran!" Eriol called his name in distress. "You must go to Sakura's room right now! She is emotionally unstable at the moment and someone needs to calm her down!"_

_Syaoran frowned. "What are you talk-"_

_Then, he heard it. He heard an excruciating scream coming from the other side of the phone, as Eriol turned on the speaker of the phone that Tomoyo was holding and held it right next to his own to let Syaoran hear for himself._

_"ishouldhavediedwithherwhydid theysavemewhydidtheysaveme? Idontdeservetoliveikilledmym otherwithmyownhand" Syaoran recognized Sakura's voice even though she spoke with long slurs that would have been unintelligible to someone else. That was enough to set him running out of his suite._

_His secretary, who stood close to him, followed him out of the suite as she saw him running down the hall._

_"Go get the card for this room!" he ordered the secretary as they approached Sakura's room. Behind him, a few of the other members trailed behind in a daze, but he didn't notice._

_He banged on Sakura's door, yelling to get her attention. Now the mumbling and screaming he had heard from the phone could be heard from where he was standing._

_"Eriol, what the hell happened?" Syaoran demanded from Eriol as he held the phone back up to his ears. His other hand continued to bang on the door._

_"I don't really know, myself. Tomoyo sounded fine on the phone with Sakura a few minutes ago, but then she started shouting into the phone telling Sakura to let go or something like that. And then, she told me to call you..."_

_The housekeeping staff appeared breathlessly with the secretary and handed her card to Syaoran._

_As soon as he opened the door, his heart stopped beating. All he could do was just stand there at the door and stare at Sakura._

_She was sitting on the bed talking to herself and her hands covering over her ears. Her whole body rocked back and forth violently while she stared off into space. The hotel's phone which she had used to talk to Tomoyo was left hanging off of the night stand. From the threshold, he could hear Tomoyo's voice still shouting through the phone to get Sakura's attention back._

_For the first time in his life, Syaoran felt scared. He was scared that the woman before him was losing her sanity. He was scared that he was going to lose her forever._

_There was nothing going through his head, or maybe there were too many thoughts but too little time for him to organize them. Regardless, his legs carried him forward into the room without him really controlling them. Behind him, he heard murmurs and he realized that they had followed him to her room and saw what he saw._

_He turned around and ordered loudly, "All of you stay out!" As curious as they were, the representatives backed out of the room._

_Before they closed the door, they asked if they should call the ambulance, but Syaoran ignored them._

_He walked to the bed and sat next to Sakura. He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her out of her trance. However, she couldn't feel it._

_"Sakura..." He was too stunned to say anything more._

_"I killed her...I shouldn't have lived...I shouldn't have lived. Why did I go to the airport that day? Syaoran didn't even know me...why did I like him? Why..."_

_"Sakura, what are you talking about?"_

_She began to shake even more. Syaoran wrapped one of his arm around her while he picked up the hanging phone by the night stand._

_"Tomoyo. Why is she like this? What is she talking about?"_

_"I'll explain later. First get her the antidepressants," Tomoyo cried anxiously. "They're in her bag."_

_Syaoran spotted her bag on the table. He fumbled through the bag and finally found a a bottle of the medication with the doctor's prescription taped to the cap._

_He returned to the bed. He pulled Sakura into his arms and slowly pushed two capsules into her mouth. Afterwards, he tilted her head a bit and fed her water with a water bottle on her nigh stand._

_Thankfully, Sakura did not push him away like he had thought she would. She obediently, and absentmindedly, allowed him to take her into his arms while she continued to mumble to herself._

_"I killed her...I killed her Syaoran..." she tightened her grasp on the sleeve of his shirt as she spoke. Syaoran was thankful that she knew he was there with her._

_"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault Sakura," he whispered softly_

_into her ears and slowly rocked her back and forth as if she were a baby. He still had no idea what she was referring to, but once he get the chance, he was going to question Tomoyo._

_"It's been a long day. Why don't you close your eyes and sleep for a bit? I'll wake you up in a few hours," he told her. Without any hesitation, he began to place light kisses on her forehead to calm her down._

_She nodded. Gradually, she loosened up and fell into deep slumber in his arms._

_About ten minutes after she fell asleep, Syaoran gently placed her on the bed and covered her with a blanket._

_"Don't go, Syaoran..." As he was about to leave the room to call Tomoyo back, Sakura grabbed onto his hand and pulled him towards her sleepily._

_Syaoran froze. Sakura had never been the one to show her reliance on anyone, especially him, when they were still dating. He looked back at her to find her looking up at him with an almost pleading gaze._

_He sat back down on the edge of the bed and continued to hold her hand in his as he watched her go back to sleep._

* * *

Syaoran stayed in Sakura's room after his late-night visit. He and she did not sleep that night. They stayed up, lying on Sakura's bed, and discussed about their one and a half years apart.

It was still hard for Sakura to bring up the car accident, but something felt different after her breakdown. Both Tomoyo and Syaoran finally got their messages through Sakura, it seemed, and gave her the courage to move on.

Another unavoidable problem was Ruo Xi, Syaoran's fiancée. Both agreed that they were not going to see each other anymore until his engagement with Ruo Xi was resolved. As to how he was going to cancel the engagement, he didn't share with Sakura no matter how many times she questioned him.

For this issue, Sakura once again faced a dilemma. She didn't want to hurt her friend, but she also didn't want to lose Syaoran anymore. On this matter, Syaoran told her that by not ending his engagement to Ruo Xi, he was hurting and using her at the same time because he had no feelings for her and the engagement was merely based on business benefits. He told her that it was only fair if he became friends with Ruo Xi, as their friendship won't involve any business deals. Syaoran really liked Ruo Xi, and he didn't want to use her.

When it was 5 minutes before 6, Syaoran got out of bed reluctantly to put on his clothes and leave her room before the others found out. He kissed her deeply on the lips and then bit down on her bottom lip lightly before Sakura pushed him away. "I'll see you in the breakfast lounge in a few hours after I catch up on some sleep," he said to her and made her blush. She didn't say anything, but slipped deeper underneath the blanket to cover her tomato-red face. After all, it was her first time, but Syaoran jus had to tease her about it.

"See you later, Mises Li," he told her before leaving for his room.

But when he opened Sakura's door, what awaited him was a very stunned Ruo Xi, with one of her hands up in the air, as if she were going to knock on Sakura's door had Syaoran not walked out from the very same room.

* * *

**Valkyrie85**: Dun dun dun dun...sorry I just had to add that to make it more suspenseful, LOL. This is it, the world's biggest confrontation will be revealed in the next and the very last chapter of this story! Stay tuned for more!

Review review review!

Oh, and please support my new story. It's called My Butler. The first chapter has been up for awhile. Check it out!


	29. Chapter 29

**Valkyrie85**: While I was writing the confrontation scene in the beginning of this chapter, I was very conflicted.

I am a person who has extreme hatred for people who commit infidelity in their relationships (this is not because I have personally experienced it, if you are wondering) and people who ruin other's relationships. Whenever I watch a show or read a book or listen to real life stories of people cheating on their partners or of people flirting with non-single men or women, I always get this urge to beat the sh*** out of those people.

Anyways, in this chapter, I have horrifyingly turned Sakura, my favorite protagonist, into one of them. Just why did I do that? Ugh. Now every time I think about the story, I have a bad impression of Sakura. And Syaoran has also made it onto my list of most-hated people for cheating on Ruo Xi, even though I spent two years trying to make him the representation of my ideal husband :/

Of course, you might argue that it is actually Ruo Xi who is ruining Syaoran and Sakura's relationship because she is in their way as the 'fiancée' of Syaoran, but let's not forget that at this point in time, she is the real 'mistress of the house' if you know what I mean.

Since I am a hardcor shipper, I guess just this once I will create something much against my will. Continue reading to see the grand finale!

**Chapter 29**

* * *

"Xiao Lang..." Ruo Xi looked up at the very shocked Syaoran in confusion.

He, on the other hand, couldn't get any words out of his mouth.

"Isn't this Sa..."

Then, she stopped her words because she knew exactly what was happening.

Her lips began to quiver, as if she was holding back on her tears.

She moved Syaoran out of her way, ready to go in and see for herself. However, Syaoran quickly recovered and grabbed Ruo Xi by her shoulders to stop her from entering the room.

"Let's go back to my room to talk," he told her solemnly.

Ruo Xi didn't budge. She stood her ground and replied in a voice that sent chills down Syaoran's spine. "Move."

Syaoran reluctantly did what he was told. He knew that there was no point in blocking her anyways, since the harm was already done.

Sakura must have heard Ruo Xi's voice because when the two of them walked back into the room, Sakura already had her clothes on.

She, like Syaoran, was shocked to see her presence. She quickly exchanged a look with Syaoran.

Ruo Xi took 3 long strides towards Sakura and slapped her across the face.

Syaoran moved in between the two

and pushed Ruo Xi away from Sakura. As a result, Ruo Xi lost her balance and fell onto the bed.

He pulled out his card from his pocket and shoved it into Sakura's hands in a hurry. "Go wait for me in my room," he whispered to her in Japanese.

Sakura shook her head slowly as she moved from behind Syaoran to see Ruo Xi face to face.

"Ruo Xi, I'm sorry. I-I lied at the restaurant the other day," Sakura said to her in a soft voice. "I still love Syaoran. I never ever tried to use him. Because of some personal reasons, I had to leave him for awhile. I thought that if I left him, I might forget about him, but I coul-"

"And now you come and steal him away from me when we're about to get married because you had a change of heart," Ruo Xi finished

Sakura's sentence for her in an almost comical voice. She got up

from the bed and distanced herself from the other two.

"I..." Sakura paused and looked down in shame. She had always been against those who ruin other's relationships, but now she had turned into one of them. "I'm sorry..."

She thought that she had the courage to tell Ruo Xi how she felt, but now, she was completely disgusted of herself.

"Well, it can't be helped," Ruo Xi replied in a casual voice all of a sudden. "It's human nature for the man to get off of track sometimes to find something 'fresh' and 'different' behind his partner's back when he becomes bored of the relationship."

"I can totally understand. So, whatever I saw today, I will pretend like nothing happened."

Ruo Xi gave a forceful smile to the other two. "I've been in the air for too long. I need to go take a shower. Please excuse me."

She turned around, ready to leave the room, but came to a halt when Syaoran spoke. "Ruo Xi, don't pretend like you're okay with this."

"But I am," she countered with her back facing him.

"You are not. And neither am I. I've hurt you way too much since the beginning of this engagement. I cannot accept or return the love that you've given me because I already have Sakura. It's not fair for you. You deserve to be loved by someone better than me. I don't deserve your love."

"But you do love me, don't you?" Ruo Xi asked, her voice wavering.

"I do. I love you like a sister. I love you like a friend. But I can't love love you. Do you understand?"

Syaoran walked up behind her and spun her around cautiously. "Look at me, Ruo Xi," he said to him in the most gentle voice he could mutter. Ruo Xi didn't move her eyes.

"I said look at me." He tilted her head so their eyes met. He could now see the tears ready to spill out.

"We can't let this go on, Ruo Xi. In the end, you're just going to hurt yourself by marrying me. You will only be able to have me but not my heart."

The two of them stared at each other for a very long time. Finally Ruo Xi ended the eye contact first as she broke into a laughing fit. She laughed so hard that the tears in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks. She rubbed away her tears with one hand while the other one pressed on top of her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked, feeling completely lost about her sudden laughing fit. He surely didn't recall any jokes that were made in that room.

He looked back at Sakura for help, but she just shook her head slowly and looked at him in a way that told him to remain silent.

"D-Don't I h-have good acting s-skills you two?" she asked in the midst of her laughing attack. "O-oh God, I should go be an actor just like you Xiao Lang!"

"What?" Syaoran questioned, still in total confusion.

"T-The truth is, I like you, but I don't love you. You thought I would be heartbroken because of what I saw today? C'mon don't be so arrogant! I really really like you, but I don't love you!"

"I'm bored of this game too. Let's call it off, the engagement I mean. Cause you're becoming way too serious. It's not fun anymore!"

Ruo Xi regained her breath and smiled at the two. "Thank you for everything, guys. My life was never so entertaining."

Syaoran was about to speak but Sakura beat him to it. "We'll stay in touch, won't we?"

Ruo Xi turned her back on them again before replying. "Hm, maybe

in a few years. I think I'm going to go back to Italy to finish my degree. Now, I really need to excuse myself, I must go take a nap from all that flying."

"Okay, see you later, Ruo Xi," Sakura told her, as she and Syaoran watched her leave the room without turning around even once.

The door closed, leaving just the two of them inside. "What just happened?" Syaoran asked Sakura, feeling dumbfounded.

Sakura hugged Syaoran as she spoke, "Oh Syaoran, I thought your IQ and EQ are higher than the average population? Ruo Xi is giving up on you, you see? She's a girl after all. She said that so she doesn't lose the last bit of her pride. She really does love you."

"Oh..." Syaoran commented. "I wish it didn't have to end like that."

"Me too."

Then, Syaoran wrapped her arms tightly around her.

* * *

**6 Months Later**

"Welcome back to Ichicho!" said Ichicho Aya, Japan's number 1 queen of talk show, to her sea of standing audience. At 53, she was still going strong with her program.

"Before the break, we interviewed the great Li Syaoran about his shocking return to the entertainment industry and to the big screen in a new movie called 'Apolo' where he will act alongside the legendary actor Tadashi Ariyaka, as the leader of a nomadic tribe that travel around the world to hunt down the murderer of their previous leader. The movie will premiere next week altogether in Hong kong, Japan, and South Korea. Be sure to support this amazing thriller once it comes out!"

The crowd clapped excitedly and cheered Syaoran on. One month after he had returned to Hong long from the States, he left his position as the CEO of Li Corporation and as a result, got disowned by the Li Clan as his punishment. All of his possessions, including stocks, houses, and cars that were bought with the money from his family, were returned back to the main household. Meiling became the new CEO of the company, in his place.

All he had left after his departure was what he had earned from his acting and modeling career. The amount was more than enough to feed him for the rest of his life, but because he realized his passion for acting, he decided to go back to Japan and continue down that path.

In less than two and a half months, he successfully got a role in a big-budget movie alongside the legendary actor Tadashi. Some people were so astounded by the amount of good luck in Syaoran's life that they constantly questioned whether he had saved a country in his previous life to get so many opportunities even after he had left the spotlight for so many years.

"Now, enough about your movie. Let's talk a bit about your wife, Li Sakura, and your soon-to-be-born child. How are they doing? I'm sure the entire nation is dying to get to know them more, as you have been keeping them away from the public eye ever since your marriage ceremony with her 4 months ago."

Syaoran's lips naturally curled up into a big smile when two of the most important people in his life were mentioned.

"Oh dear God," Syaoran said in exasperation. "Thank you for asking. I've been dreading about not being able to tell someone about my hard life with a pregnant wife."

The audience giggled at Syaoran's dramatic response.

"Uh-oh. I hear trouble," Aya played along.

"Oh yea. I've developed the habit of half-sleeping. I think in this entire world, only I can be called a master at that. Although I am sleeping, when I feel a stir or hear Sakura's voice, I instantly wake up on full alert."

"Mhm, what a good husband you are," Aya praised, nodding her head.

"Now that she's almost in her 7th month, she's becoming more and more demanding, you know? One minute she wants something spicy, another minute she wants something really really sweet!"

"Yes, that's what happened to me when I was pregnant with my first child," Aya agreed.

"And how are you handling the life at home and the hectic schedule at work? Are you going to hire a nanny?" Aya asked curiously.

"Nah, I don't think so. Before I leave for international promotions, I will be taking care of her myself. But after I leave, I think I will send her off to her friend's house. The two of them will be great company for each other because they are both pregnant."

"Oh? Are you talking about Daidouji Tomoyo, the fashion designer?" Aya asked.

"Yea, her."

"I heard your wife and Miss Daidouji were childhood friends. It must be nice to see their next generations continuing on that friendship, no?"

Syaoran nodded. "We recently found out the gender of our child. We are having a daughter and they'll be having a son-" the room erupted into cheers and hurrays for the news.

Syaoran smiled at them as a way of saying thanks. "Tonight the four, or actually the six of us will be sitting down together for dinner. We're going to settle the engagement for our children and make it official," Syaoran joked and winked at the crowd.

"I wonder if my daughter will like what I have in store for her in the future." Syaoran pondered loudly.

"And how many kids are you planning on having?" Aya asked on behalf of his fans.

"Probably an entire soccer team!" Syaoran exclaimed in excitement, which quickly spread to the others in the room.

"Is your wife okay with that?" Aya asked with widened eyes.

"Of course, she loves children."

**Two Hours Later**

"So you wanted to own a whole soccer team, huh?" Sakura asked her husband in the car while they were on their way to Thousand Island to meet up with Eriol and Tomyo for dinner.

Syaoran gave a half-crooked smile and squeezed her hand. "I do, if you're up to it."

"But you're complaining about me already when I'm only on my first pregnancy," she retorted, signaling him that she had watched his talk show when it was broadcasted live.

Syaoran took his eyes off of the road to quickly look at her. "You have been demanding. But that doesn't change the fact that I love you."

Sakura blushed. "Well, I'm sorry to break your dream but I just want to have one child."

"Why?" Syaoran pouted.

"Because one, it hurts like hell to give birth. Two, I already have Michio and this one in my tummy. And three, I want to focus on my clinic." Sakura spoke as she lovingly ran her hand over her round belly.

Syaoran no longer disliked Michio and Shin now that he was Sakura's husband. Sometimes, when Michio came over to their house, he even played with them together.

"One day," Syaoran began, as he took Sakura's hand up to his lips, "You will change your mind. I guarantee it, Misses Li."

He gazed at her and gave her another one of her favorite half-crooked smiles.

* * *

**Valkyrie85**: This is a big moment for me. Honestly. I never thought I was capable of writing a complete story on this website. I feel like I have become a better writer after the two and a half years of working on this story.

Two chapters ago in the author's note, I warned you all that this story might not end happily. It was just a joke! I really hate stories with unhappy endings too, so I made sure that this one didn't have a sad ending. I hope you were all satisfied with the ending :)

If you have been following this story and have never reviewed, please DO do it for this chapter. I would love to see your feedback. And same goes to all of those who have been reviewing frequently, thank you for your time and support!

If any of you would like a reply to your review, do say it in your message. I will get back to you as soon as possible. If not, thank you all in advance!

And finally, check out my new story, My Butler. I promise you it will be even better than this one :)

Thanks to All (hopefully this story will achieve 1000+ reviews)

Val

March 13, 2013


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